


The World Is Pretty Great Right Now

by DiamondWings



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: All is well as soon as Felix enters the chat, Campsites, Everything good about summer and campsites, Fluff, He's a bit of a dick for 0.2 seconds, Insecure Changbin, Jack-of-all-trades jobs, Loner Changbin, M/M, Sleepovers, Stargazing, Strangers to enemies to friends (Changbin/Everyone), Strangers to lovers (ChangLix), Summer Camp, Summer Love, Sunburn, Sunsets, changbin centric, happiest of endings, summer job, very light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:27:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25112356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondWings/pseuds/DiamondWings
Summary: Changbin is out of luck while job hunting, until his only option is to accept his uncle's offer to help out at his campsite, located near a small town in the middle of nowhere by the sea, for the three months of summer. As soon as he arrives, he has a fall-out with his cousin he's never met before, and promptly antagonizes the entire crew working at the site, which only makes the gruelling work days harder.Three months shape up to become a never ending nightmare, until one certain guest arrives that is bound to turn Changbin's whole summer, and possibly even life, around.
Relationships: Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Comments: 25
Kudos: 174
Collections: Summer Boy





	The World Is Pretty Great Right Now

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts featured:  
> Day 1: Summer Job, Day 5: Sunburn, and Day 7: Summer Fling

Changbin watched with dread as the signs of civilization the bus he passed became fewer and fewer. They had long since left the city behind, and by now the only man-made thing Changbin could see was the road the bus was driving on. He would have thought the driver was kidnapping him, driving him to a remote area where no one would ever find him, but the GPS on his phone kept telling him they were indeed on the right track.

It was boring, watching the landscape pass, and eventually Changbin fell asleep. Just for a little while, but before he knew it he was jostled awake as the bus came to a halt. Looking around, he found mostly trees surrounding them, but down in the valley in the distance, following the road, he could see the lights of a small town. And next to the bus, a large closed gate with a sign welcoming any visitors.

Changbin couldn’t imagine the sign to ever be read by that many visitors, though; it was in the middle of nowhere, who even knew about this small, remote town and it’s camping site? He’d never heard of either until the visit of his uncle the week before changed that. And even then, he’d never thought he would ever find himself here.

He was left without a choice, in the end, or he certainly wouldn’t be out here right now. But it was what it was. Changbin had only just finished college, gotten his music production master’s degree, and finally, freshly been thrown into the world of adulting. Until now, his life had been more or less child’s play. All his life, he’d focused on his studies, on his grades, and outside of school, on his passions and hobbies. Not a day in his life he’d had to work, not even in college. His parents, although not agreeing with Changbin’s choice of major, paid for each and all of his expenses; under one condition. Since Changbin didn’t want to listen and go for a major they approved of, one that promised quick and steady employment once he was done with college, as soon as Changbin finished, he was on his own. And Changbin agreed, in all his naïve stubbornness.

It all quickly backfired on him. With no work experience in any field up until now, no interview experience,  _ nothing,  _ he couldn’t find a job. Not in the field he studied for, and nowhere else, either. And his parents were relentless; if he wanted to keep living with them, he had rent to pay, and food was no longer free, either. Changbin was panicking.

And then his uncle had stopped by on one of his trips to the city, coming over for dinner while he was in the area. Hearing of Changbin’s predicament, he offered him a job at his camp-site, at least for the summer. He wouldn’t have to pay rent or food, living with his uncle’s family, and he’d be paid for his work, as long as he did it well and without complaining.

Changbin was not convinced at first. Working on a campsite at the end of the world, doing janitor jobs when he had a full music production master degree in his pocket? Hell no!

A hefty argument with his parents not even a week with still no job and income to name his own later, and Changbin’s options were narrowed down to just this one. And here he was. Against his will, alone, broke, with no idea what was waiting for him.

Well, except for his uncle, who came hurrying down the driveway as soon as Changbin stepped off the bus.

“Changbin, my boy! Come in, come in!”

Changbin flinched as his uncle put an arm around his shoulders, squeezing him a tad too hard, and following it up with a few pats to his back that were also too hard.

“I’m so happy you changed your mind and decided to come! We’ve been looking forward to having you! Jeongin is excited to finally meet his cousin, too. And we can always use more helping hands around here, there’s a lot to get done at a place like this at this time of the year! But come in, come in; let me help with your luggage!” His uncle chattered away, and Changbin was sure he would have a headache by the time they reached the front door. His aunt, a woman he had never met before, greeted him cheerfully, too; much too cheerfully.

“Changbinnie! We’re so happy to have you! Sit down, sit down, we saved you some dinner! Tell us, how was the journey here? Isn’t the landscape just marvelous? I always love the bus ride back down here. Leaving the city behind, all the towns and pollution, until there is finally only nature… It’s magical, isn’t it?” She rambled, much like her husband, not even letting Changbin answer.

He clenched his teeth and sat down at the table where his aunt placed a plate of microwaved leftovers, beginning to eat when his aunt and uncle urged him to. At least the food was pretty good, even warmed up.

“You must be exhausted, boy. You should go and rest up; we start work around here quite early in the morning. We made you a bed in Jeongin’s room.”

Changbin nearly choked, but said nothing. He was supposed to share a room with some kid he had never met before? For three months?! These were already shaping up to be the longest three months of his life, and he hadn’t even been here for a full hour!

Silently, he followed his aunt upstairs where she knocked on a door.

“Innie, sweetie? Your cousin’s here.” She announced, getting a response to come in and opening the door for Changbin.

The room was pretty small, already cramped with the bed, bedside table, desk, dresser, wardrobe and bookcase stuffed in it; the air mattress on the floor left barely any room to tread in it. The boy who was clearly the owner of the room hastily said his goodbyes to whoever he’d been on a call with before, setting his phone down to greet Changbin with a wide smile.

“Hi! You must be Changbin! I’m Jeongin. You’re my hyung by two years, but I hope we can get along well. We made you a bed over there and I made some room in my wardrobe for your things; I hope it’s enough, but I can always try to clear out some space in the dresser if it’s not. Sorry there won’t be any room for your suitcase in here.” The kid chattered, not unlike his parents, and Changbin felt his temples pulse with a headache. Really, was this whole side of the family like this? If they were, he was glad they hadn’t had much contact until now, and he could have lived for the rest of his life without needing it. But they were here now.

“Yeah… thanks.” Changbin couldn’t keep the sarcasm from seeping into his words. “Bed, huh?” He looked at the sad air-mattress on the floor. 

Jeongin caught up on the tone of his voice, frowning slightly. He hid it quickly, though. 

“It’s a good mattress.” He shrugged. “And it’s not like another full bed would have fit in here.”

Changbin looked around, but really there was no way he could have missed anything with just the first glance he’d gotten, so he found nothing new.

“Yeah. I can see that…” Really, how could anyone even live in such a small room?!

Jeongin bit his lip, clearly swallowing what he’d been wanting to say first and opting for something else.

“It’s small, but it’s mine, and I like it.” He sounded almost pouty. Changbin ignored it, starting to drag his suitcase into the room. He barely made it three steps.

“Good for you.” He replied distractedly to Jeongin. “Now, where did you say I could put my things?”

Jeongin frowned at him but got up, opening the wardrobe. Two rather narrow shelves had been cleared, while the rest of the shelves were overflowing with clothes and various trinkets. Changbin raised an eyebrow.

“Wow, two whole shelves. Very generous of you.” Again, the sarcasm bled heavily into his voice, and this time Jeongin didn’t hold back.

“Well, as you can see, it’s a rather small wardrobe and I do have a normal amount of stuff that needs it’s place. I already went through the trouble of relocating and finding new spots for everything from those shelves, but if you don’t want them, feel free to leave your suitcase with your things in the hallway. I was just trying to be helpful!”

Changbin caught the irritated tone, giving his cousin an equally annoyed look.

“Oh well thank you ever so much. I’ll rather leave my things in the hallway, then. Wouldn’t want you to have to give up any space for your things.”

Jeongin’s jaw dropped at the unnecessarily rude answer but he quickly recovered and snapped his mouth shut again, narrowing his eyes at Changbin’s back.

“Well then. Whatever. If you’re gonna be like this, see if I care.” He muttered, returning to his bed without another word or glance in Changbin’s direction. Swiftly, he put on headphones and picked up his phone, ignoring Changbin.

Changbin bit his lip, having to admit to himself he might have messed up now; it could have been helpful to have Jeongin show him where everything was to get settled. But it was whatever, he didn’t  _ need _ him to, he could figure it out. Even if it took him longer. He didn’t care that Jeongin ignored him, lying on his bed and typing away furiously on his phone and leaving him to figure himself out on his own, until he finally crawled into the shitty air-mattress-bed to try and get some sleep.

***

Changbin felt as if he’d only just fallen asleep when a knock on the door and his uncle’s voice raised him from his slumber.

“Morning, Changbin! Up, up, work doesn’t wait! Come one!” He called, while Changbin rolled out of bed blearily; or he would have, if he’d had any room to roll to and wasn’t trapped between Jeongin’s bed and the dresser. Blindly, he fished for his phone, checking the time. 

Four thirty in the morning? They had to be kidding him!

“Changbin? Are you coming?” His uncle called again, impatiently now.

“Yeah… yeah…” Changbin sighed, stretching, before trying to get up. Apparently, they were not kidding him and actually quite serious.

He hurried to get ready, but still it was after five when he stepped out of the house under his uncle’s disapproving looks.

“I’ll let you off today since it’s your first day, but you better get used to being ready by five. The delivery drivers don’t wait for us, and we have to have the shop stocked by the time Minho arrives so he can open. Now come on, help me with these crates!”

Changbin barely had time to nod before his uncle shoved crates of water bottles into his arms and led the way inside the campsite’s own little groceries store. The room wasn’t big, but the shelves stood close together and were rather tall. Every millimeter of wall and floor space that wasn’t strictly necessary for walking was used to display every single thing a camper might want or need to buy; from fresh fruit and vegetables as well as canned food, meat to grill and the matching grills, coals and firelighters, over all kinds of body hygiene and cleaning products and even some over-the-counter-medicine, to tent herrings, ropes, clothing pins, air mattress fixing kits and all sizes of batteries, as well as everything in between, the store was packed.

Changbin wasn’t used to the physical labor that came with carrying crates, but his uncle didn’t let him rest until the shelves were stocked to capacity and what didn’t fit in the store was neatly tucked away in the adjacent storage room. While they worked, his uncle took the chance to fill Changbin in on his general duties and how to fulfill them, not failing to reiterate several times that whatever issue a camper might have, helping them was always his first priority, and if his help was needed by someone else, helping them came immediately after helping the guests. 

They weren’t quite done with the store by the time a boy who couldn’t be that much older than Changbin showed up.

“Ah, Minho! Good morning!” Changbin’s uncle greeted him, and the boy smiled back.

“Morning, uncle. Beautiful day today, isn’t it?”

“Indeed!” Changbin’s uncle beamed at the boy. “Minho, meet Changbin over here, my nephew from the city. He’s here to help out for the summer. Changbin, this is Minho. He runs the store for us.”

Changbin inclined his head in greeting, murmuring a nice-to-meet-you, which wasn’t returned. When he looked up, he saw the boy watching him with a slight frown. When he caught Changbin looking at him, he quickly mustered a half-smile and muttered a ‘likewise’ that couldn’t have sounded more insincere back. Changbin’s expression hardened and he went back to his work. What could a guy who’d met him for a total of thirty seconds already have against him? Weirdo… Not that he cared; he wasn’t here to make friends with the store clerk, but to work, anyway.

And work was something that his uncle had him do. If he thought he’d get time to rest after two hours of carrying crates and stacking shelves, he was painfully wrong. As soon as they stepped out of the store, Changbin’s uncle dragged him to the pools to teach him how to run the water-vacuum, clean the pool, replace chlorine blocks and clean the filter system. After that, he was tasked with cleaning the camper van washing spot and - Changbin’s personal ‘favourite’ - assist the chem-toilet clean-up crew. His stomach was still churning after that particular task, but since he hadn’t had breakfast he forced a quick lunch down anyway; and then it was right back to work, which consisted of running down to the beach to bring the lifeguards stationed there - ‘Channie’ and ‘Sungie’, according to his aunt - their lunch.

The lifeguards were two guys who looked like they were born for the job; one could have easily posed for a surfer-magazine, looking as if his whole life was spent on a beach or on the waves, while the other radiated such brightness he could probably lure people to the beach in the middle of a snow-storm with his sunniness. Changbin felt comforted as soon as he stepped up to their tower, bowing lightly to greet them and introducing himself. The moment he did, though, the sunny smiles dimmed.

“Ah, I see. Thank you for lunch, Changbin.” The surfer-guy nodded, taking the cooler from Changbin. 

“Yeah, thanks.” The other added, and that was it. The atmosphere was weird, and Changbin’s heart dropped. The two had been laughing and joking when he’d arrived, but now coldness seemed to roll off of them in waves despite the smiles they still wore on their faces. It was-... Yeah, weird. 

“Uh, enjoy, I guess…” Changbin could only mumble before turning back to start the trek back up the campsite. What was wrong with these people? Had he done something wrong? Had he offended them somehow? 

He sighed, shaking his head. It was whatever; he didn’t need them to cozy up to him. If they wanted to keep to themselves, he didn’t care about them enough to be upset about it. 

He’d only just managed to get back to camp when his uncle ambushed him yet again, directing him to help some guests. ‘Some’ turned into quite a few once others spotted him helping their neighbours, and Changbin didn’t get a chance to breathe again as he ran around on errands, helped fix antennas to camper-van roofs, fetched and lended tools, raked pebbles in the tent-spots, showed people around, heard their complaints and tried to make amends, all while still struggling to find his way around himself. 

He was ‘rescued’ eventually by his uncle who sent him to help the gardener. Changbin sighed in relief, expecting maybe to be tasked with watering flowers or something of the likes, something not quite as tiring. He was wrong, though. The gardener, a quiet guy named Woojin who wasn’t here for small-talk, took no mercy on him as he instructed him on how to bring mulch out around the hedges separating the different areas of the site. The bags weren’t that heavy per se, but after twenty of them, Changbin felt like the slightest nudge would make his spine crumble to dust. 

Finally, his uncle decided to take mercy on him, sending him to the front office to fill in for the usual receptionist, Hyunjin, while he went down to the town for some errands. 

Hyunjin greeted him politely but coldly when he introduced himself, leaving him with basic instructions and nothing else before he left. Changbin frowned after him; how come everyone was so cold to him? Was it because he was from the city? Weren’t people from the countryside usually known to be friendly and welcoming to visitors and strangers? How come these people here were all so distant and unwelcoming? Had he done something wrong?

He shrugged, sighing. Whatever. If these people didn’t want anything to do with him, they didn’t need to. He didn’t need them to, either. He was here to work, not make friends. He’d only be here for three months, anyway, not like he planned on living here. And the last thing he needed was to make friends he’d then only miss when he went back to the city and never saw them again. Nah, it was probably better this way, anyway.

He was quickly dismissed once Hyunjin came back, and thus his rest-time came to an abrupt end as he was once again busy running around assisting the campers. He watched with mild jealousy when Minho closed up the shop at six on the dot and went to lie under a tree with a book, soon joined by Woojin. An hour later, Chan and Jisung came up from the beach, joining the other two under the tree after a shower, while Changbin was still running around. At eight, the front office closed, and Hyunjin joined the other four on their way to the on-site restaurant. 

Changbin stared wistfully after them with a growling stomach, and finally, his uncle came to find him to relieve him of his duties, sending him off to the restaurant to get his fill on a meal, too. 

With his aunt working the kitchen, he finally got to see a friendly face, but her exuberant happiness was almost too much for him to bear and he was happy to quickly escape from her focus once again. He found himself a lonely spot in the corner to eat, doubting he’d be welcome at the table for the other employees, who were all more than friendly with each other, laughing and joking, stealing food off each other’s plates and engaging in more skinship with each other than Changbin cared to see in a lifetime, never mind over the course of one dinner. 

It begged the question, though, that if they were this friendly and open with each other, how come they were that cold and closed-off to him?

The answer to that walked in half-way through dinner in the form of his cousin, who joined the table together with another boy and was quickly hugged, kissed, doted on and pampered by the other occupants of the table.

Ah, now it made sense. They were all Jeongin’s friends, and the brat must have snitched on him to them the night before. Well, shit. But it was whatever. Changbin didn’t care. Again, he was here to work, not make friends. And if he reminded himself of that often enough, he might even start to believe it himself eventually.

***

Changbin was miserable. Or, he would have been if he had the time. As it was, waking up at the crack of dawn and working all day, he usually fell into his shitty air-mattress bed soon after dinner and quickly knocked out for the night. Even during the day, he didn’t have much time to think as he was kept incredibly busy all the time, but there were times the loneliness got to him, especially when he saw the other employees interacting, laughing, having fun together and in their jobs. Everyone seemed to genuinely love their jobs even if they were hard, and he’d never even heard rumors of one of them complaining about their job. 

Changbin didn’t complain, either. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he didn’t have anyone to complain to. The only people who talked to him with an open and friendly face were his uncle and aunt, and they were the last people Changbin wanted to vent to. And after seeing Jeongin with the other employees, he quickly ruled out the possibility to ever get closer to any of them, even if he was frequently stuck working with all of them. If there had ever been any friendlier approaches from any of them, he didn’t see them, keeping his guard up instinctively. 

He didn’t really interact with his cousin, either. He usually went to bed before the kid and got up earlier, too; not to mention that Jeongin seemed to spend most of his nights elsewhere, anyway. Most likely at his boyfriend Seungmin’s house, if his aunt was to be believed.

And so, weeks dragged by endlessly in which Changbin fell into a hard and lonely routine of work and sleep and counting down the days until he could leave this hell-hole and go back to the city.

The monotony of his days was suddenly brightened up with the arrival of a guest towards the end of his third week at the campsite, though. He was passing by the front office when a boy stepped out the door and flagged him down.

“Hey, you! You work here, right? I was wondering if you could help me with my luggage, please?”

Guests asking for help with luggage were nothing new to Changbin, and so he nodded and went over to help. His top priority should always be the guests, after all. 

“Thank you so much! I’m in cabin fifteen.” The guest supplied, and Changbin nodded as he took two of the suitcases.

“No problem; this way!” He indicated the way, letting the guest take the lead. The guest, a bubbly young man - maybe even a teen, still, or barely just not a teen anymore - almost skipped as he passed Changbin with a cheerful “Thanks!” 

Changbin found himself smiling as he watched the excited guy, finding amusement in the other’s cheerfulness.

“I have so been looking forward to this…” The boy sighed eventually, looking back at Changbin with a smile that crinkled his eyes and bunched his freckled cheeks up. “Two whole months of paradise on Earth! This is the only right way to spend a summer!”

Changbin smiled politely, nodding. Two months, that explained the load of luggage. “Are you staying here the whole two months?” He asked conversationally, and the boy nodded.

“Yes! I think I could spend the entire year here if given the chance. It’s so beautiful, the town, the sea, the site, nature everywhere around… Amazing!” He sighed, then tilted his head as he fixed Changbin with a curious look. “Since I’m going to be spending a while here, I’m sure we’ll see a lot of each other from now on. What’s your name?”

Changbin smiled politely. “Changbin, at your service.” He bowed lightly, like he’d learned from his uncle.

“Nice to meet you, Changbin. I’m Felix. Since you’re ‘at my service’, would you mind helping me get settled? I’ve never been in a cabin on my own, I wouldn’t know what to look out for.” 

Again, Changbin nodded as he hoisted the suitcases up the two steps to the deck of cabin fifteen.

“Changbin, have you been working on this campsite for long?” Felix inquired, attempting to unlock the door without looking at it, and instead looking at Changbin. Changbin tried to hide the smile that threatened to break out as he watched Felix struggle cutely.

“No, just about three weeks. I’m only helping out for the summer. Should I- allow me?” He offered when Felix kept struggling with the lock, and Felix handed him the key gladly. Changbin made quick work of the lock, opening the door for Felix, who threw him a grateful smile. 

“Ah, I see. Where are you from?”

“Seoul.”

“Oh, that’s far! How did you end up here?” Felix inquired, genuine interest in his voice. And Changbin told him. Felix was full of questions, mostly about Changbin with just a few about the cabin peppered in. And Changbin… He was so deprived of a genuine conversation that he gave in all too gladly, answering all of Felix’s questions and throwing in a few of his own. He found out Felix lived in Australia but always spent his holidays in Korea; this year for the first time without the rest of his family. He was a year younger than Changbin, and he studied performing arts in Sydney. He loved surfing and dancing and cooking and long hikes through untouched nature. And he was positively fascinated about Changbin’s major in music production, telling him he had a few close friends who worked in the field, too, and were making a name for themselves these days. Changbin forgot the time over chatting with Felix, until his walkie-talkie crackled to life with the voice of his uncle asking about his whereabouts.

“Oh, better don’t keep the boss waiting!” Felix exclaimed. “Sorry for holding you up! But thank you for keeping me company. I’ll see you around, hyung. Maybe we can do something together when you’re off sometime, if you want!” 

Felix sounded so genuinely hopeful Changbin couldn’t bring himself to deny him. Strangely enough, he found he didn’t want to deny him, either, and quickly agreed before he had to hurry out to meet his uncle.

There was the hint of a smile on his face after his interaction with Felix, and it stayed for the rest of the day as he kept thinking about the interaction with the pleasant guest in cabin fifteen while going after his duties, and despite the heavy tasks his uncle and Woojin loaded onto him.

The smile dropped abruptly when he walked into the dining hall after clocking off, though. It had started to grow bigger the moment he spotted Felix among the dining guests, but as soon as he saw who he was sitting with, it died instantly.

Felix was sitting at the table the employees usually occupied, and he was talking so animatedly with them, with one of Chan’s arms slung around his shoulders and stealing fries from Jeongin’s plate, that there was no doubt he was well acquainted with them, and not just since this afternoon.

Disappointment crashed into Changbin hard. For a moment there, he’d thought that with Felix’s arrival, his days might become not quite as bleak anymore; but if Felix was already friends with his tight-knit colleagues and cousin, there was no way they wouldn’t fill him in about him soon, and Felix would turn his back on him without second thought.

His appetite vanished, and he only went to pick up some food because his stomach was still growling. He didn’t even taste the food as he quickly shovelled it down and went up to the room he shared with his cousin to go to sleep.

It was whatever, he didn’t need Felix’s company, anyway. It had been nice to chat for a bit, but what was a guest anyway but a fleeting acquaintance? No, he’d be fine with Felix ignoring him. 

And yet, he felt close to tears as he fell asleep.

***

“Oi! Changbin-hyung!”

Changbin nearly dropped the bag of mulch he was about to scatter along the path to the steps of cabin fourteen. Turning his head, he spotted Felix waving at him from one of the windows of his cabin.

“Hey, Felix…” He answered, tentative. Felix was still talking to him? Had the others not filled him in about him the night before? Then again, he was most likely not important enough to them to be talking about him to their freshly arrived friend.

“You really just dropped off the face of the earth after you left yesterday, didn’t you! I was hoping to catch you at dinner, but no such luck. Don’t you eat in the restaurant here? You do get dinner for free there, don’t you?” Felix inquired, and Changbin winced. 

“I did eat there… I just wasn’t very hungry.” He supplied cautiously, not wanting to reveal too much.

“Oh? When? Was it late?”

Changbin shook his head.

“Eight-fifteen-ish.”

“Hmm…” Felix hummed, pensive. “I must have been distracted, then, and didn’t see you. Unsurprising, really; I really missed the guys! Only seeing them once a year is hard!” He sighed.

Changbin nodded slowly, focusing on the mulch. “Yeah… I can imagine.” He mumbled and fell silent again. So did Felix, and when Changbin looked up again after a while, he was gone from the window. Unsurprising; he wasn’t the best conversationalist, after all. Changbin sighed sadly, shaking his head as he went back to the mulch.

“What’s that big sigh for?” 

Changbin actually yelped, almost jumping into the hedge in front of him.

Felix laughed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you! I thought you’d heard me come down; I wasn’t exactly quiet! You really focus hard when you’re working, huh?”

Changbin swallowed, willing his rapidly beating heart to calm down.

“Uh-... Yeah. I like doing my job well, even if it’s not my favourite. But if I do it well right away, I’m done sooner than if I have to go back and correct it. Also, I want to avoid getting scolded for being sloppy.”

Felix hummed in understanding. “That makes sense. And yeah, Woojin is a bit pedantic when it comes to his plants and stuff. If he gives you a hard time, let me know and I’ll tell him off; he’s an absolute fool for me. I’ll protect you!” Felix winked conspiratorially. 

Changbin chuckled, shaking his head. Felix was cute, but he would do no such thing.

“Oh, I’m sure he is…” He answered distractedly, accidentally voicing thoughts he didn’t mean to. Unfortunately, he was so distracted he missed the teasing glimmer in Felix’s eyes.

“Oh, are you? How come?” 

“Huh?” He looked up, not quite having caught Felix’s question.

“How come you are so sure Woojin is a fool for me?”

Changbin’s jaw dropped and he gaped at Felix for a moment, before he got a hold of himself and snapped his mouth shut again, not without blushing profusely as the question registered in his mind.

“I- Uh, I just, I mean, well, you, uh… You’re, uhm… Since you’re so nice, and his friend, I guess-...”

Felix cut him off with a giggle. “Aww, you think I’m nice! Thank you, Binnie-hyung! You’re nice, too!” He beamed at Changbin with that smile that crinkled his eyes and bunched his cheeks, and absolutely took Changbin’s breath away.

“Changbin, are you done with the mulch over there? I need the wheelbarrow!” Woojin’s voice called from the end of the row of cabins, and Changbin jumped again, quickly moving to hoist the remaining sacks of mulch off the wheelbarrow so Woojin could use it.

“Woojinnie-hyung! Good morning!” Felix chirped, skipping down the path to hug his friend, while Changbin clenched his teeth and sat the first sack down. 

“You’re still at cabin fourteen? That’s four more cabins; I thought you’d be quicker. Uncle needs your help with the lights on the patio when you’re done here, so you better hurry up.” Woojin remarked when he reached Changbin. Changbin nodded that he’d understood, grabbing a sack and carrying it over to the path up to cabin fifteen. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Felix punch Woojin’s arm lightly.

“Hyung, don’t be so harsh on Binnie-hyung. He’s working very diligently, look how neat it looks where he spreads the mulch. Would you rather he was quick and sloppy or slower and neat? Don’t rush him!” Felix scolded, a cute pout on his lips, and Changbin felt his heart squeeze at how adorable he was; and that he was standing up for him, too. But that was only because his friends hadn’t dragged Changbin through the mud in front of him yet; it was only a matter of time until that would happen, though. 

He turned his back on the pair and focused on spreading the mulch along the path to Felix’s cabin, and so he missed the look on Woojin’s face turning appreciative as he followed Felix’s line of sight and took in the results of Changbin’s work.

“Oh… You- you’re right. Sorry. Good job, Changbin; keep it up.” Woojin conceded, and Felix beamed. Changbin merely nodded, confirming he’d heard Woojin, and continued his job.

“Well, as interesting as watching you guys play with dirt is, I have a date with Chan-hyung and Jisung and some waves! See you later!” Felix announced, and it was only then Changbin noticed the rolled up towel under Felix’s arm. 

“Yeah, see you…” Changbin replied quietly, not sure if he was included in Felix’s farewell or not.

“Don’t forget to put on sunscreen! I’ll tell Chan on you!” Woojin called after Felix, who only laughed and poked his tongue out at Woojin as he skipped down the path, away from them. “Brat.” Woojin sighed, but the fondness rang clear in his voice. 

“You’re really doing a good job with the mulch, Changbin.” Woojin spoke up again after a moment, startling Changbin; he hadn’t expected him to still stick around. “I like what you’re doing with the transition to the pebbles of the path. It looks really good. Hey, actually, before you go help Uncle, stop by the storage room, ok? I made cookies and I need a honest opinion on them; the others are all biased and will eat everything as long as it’s vaguely sweet. I want you to try them.” He offered with a smile that didn’t waver even when Changbin eyed him suspiciously. It looked genuine enough and not like Changbin was going to risk being poisoned, and he found himself nodding hesitantly.

“O-ok…” He agreed, and Woojin’s smile brightened. With a clap to Changbin’s shoulder, Woojin took up the wheelbarrow and started off down the path he’d come before. Changbin stared after him, bewildered, before shaking himself out of it and returning to his work. What had just happened?

***

By the time lunch rolled around and Changbin was on his way down to the beach to deliver the food for the lifeguards, he’d almost forgotten about the strange interaction with Woojin earlier; almost, because the cookies he’d made were really good and memorable enough for him to still be thinking about them even after his own lunch.

He was walking up to the lifeguard tower when he heard someone calling out to him from behind him.

“Binnie-hyung!” 

He turned to see Felix trudging up from the water, soaked hair plastered to his head, wearing a rash-guard and with a surfboard tucked under his arm.

“So nice of you to bring me lunch down here! It wouldn’t have been necessary!” He beamed as he reached Changbin, and Changbin’s jaw dropped for a moment.

“I-I-... This, uh, it’s- it’s not, it’s, uh-” He gestured vaguely at the lifeguard tower, and Felix laughed.

“I’m kidding; I know it’s for Chan hyung and Jisung. I’m sure I can get them to share with me, though!”

“You wish! I’m not giving you any of my lunch, freeloader!” Jisung jumped into the sand next to them, pulling an ugly face at Felix as he took the cooler from Changbin and popped it open right there.

Felix made an offended face, focussing past Jisung. “Channie hyuuuuung! Jisung is being mean to me!” He whined, and seconds later he was enveloped in a hug by the other lifeguard, despite being soaked in saltwater still.

“What do I hear? Jisung is being mean to my baby? Looks like someone is begging to spend the afternoon walking the surf…!”

Jisung blanched.

“No! No, hyung, please! Here Lix, you can have all of my lunch; I’m not even hungry, actually! It’s all yours!” 

Felix grinned triumphantly, and Chan laughed. 

“That is so generous of you! Thank you, Sungie; my favourite twin! I’m good with a few grapes though, thanks!” Felix blew Jisung a kiss and picked a small bunch of grapes out of the cooler while Jisung sighed in relief. “Do you want one?” 

Changbin reared back a little when Felix suddenly held up a grape right in Changbin’s face.

“I- Uh, thanks, I’m ok. You eat up.” He declined, and Felix shrugged, popping the grape in his mouth.

“Have you eaten yet, Changbin?” Chan asked suddenly, surprising Changbin.

“Yes…” He answered, and Chan nodded to himself, eyeing the cooler hungrily but not taking anything yet.

“Good. Uncle gets a little carried away with assigning tasks sometimes, so make sure you tell him when you need a break. You’ve been working what, fourteen hour days?”

Changbin was taken aback at the accuracy of Chan’s observation; and the fact he’d observed anything at all.

“Yeah, pretty much…”

Chan shook his head, and Jisung hummed disapprovingly.

“That’s harsh. You should make sure to get more breaks in. Or at least get Uncle to pay you overtime.” He mumbled around a full mouth of food. 

Chan nudged him in the side. “Don’t talk with your mouth full; that’s gross.”

Jisung nudged him back. “I’m on break, leave me alone. Eyes on the water, Mr Lifeguard.” 

Chan rolled his eyes but turned back around to keep the water and beach-goers in his line of sight.

“Hey, you know what? Why don’t you take your lunch with you sometime when you bring Chan and Jisung theirs and we can all eat down here? And that way you can take a proper break, too.” Felix suddenly suggested, beaming at Changbin. “I’ll bring something, too! Just, yeah, maybe not tomorrow, I’m going on a hike with InnieMinnie. But the day after?”

Felix sounded so excited Changbin wanted to agree right away, but he didn’t know if he should, given his history with the lifeguards; or lack thereof. 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, actually. I’ll have to keep working while you guys eat, but it’d be nice nonetheless.” Chan agreed, before his gaze hardened and Changbin felt his heart seize up and plummet in his ribcage. Chan was staring right past him, though. “Excuse me, those bratty kids from yesterday are back to climbing the rocks- Hey!” He shouted, breaking into a jog down to the water and to one side of the beach to get the climbing teens back onto safe ground.

“I should go back to work, too…” Changbin muttered then, feeling uncomfortable staying any longer. “See you around.”

Jisung nodded, waving with a full mouth that made his round cheeks look even rounder, and Felix beamed at him with that eye-crinkling-cheek-bunching smile that somehow did funny things to Changbin’s stomach.

“See you, Binnie-hyung! Don’t work too hard!”

Changbin gave him a smile back and turned to make his way back up to the campsite. He wondered how much longer it would take for the group to let Felix know of their dislike for him and for Felix to drop him. Probably not that much longer, if he was going on a hike with Jeongin and Seungmin the next day.

***

“Binnie-hyung!” Felix called out from the steps of his cabin the next day while Changbin was watering the hedges.

Changbin turned to give him a smile.

“Is this ok, actually? Me calling you Binnie hyung? If I’m making you uncomfortable or coming on too fast, just tell me, ok?” Felix tilted his head cutely, but with a small crease of worry on his forehead that Changbin felt the instant urge to smooth out. 

“It’s ok, I don’t mind. It’s cute.” Changbin assured, wrestling with the hose to pull it up the path to Felix’s cabin. “Does this mean I get to call you Lixie, too?” His mouth blabbed, faster than his brain. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he was ready to apologize and take them back, but Felix’s face lighting up stopped him.

“Sure! It’s only fair!” He conceded, and Changbin felt an instant weight fall off his chest, warmth blossoming in its stead. 

“When you’re done with the hedge, can you pour water on my feet?” Felix asked when Changing was close to finishing watering the row of bushes. “I feel like they are about to combust, still. I’m not used to long hikes, but Innie dragged us along for the long trail. I’m not sure they will ever be the same again. I need to buy some hiking boots, trainers really won’t do…” 

Changbin clicked his tongue, turning to take a look at where Felix was extending his bare feet off the steps. They looked swollen and red, deep welts forming where his socks had been, and he took pity. Reducing the flow on the nozzle of the hose, he let water flow over Felix’s feet, and Felix hissed, but his expression looked relieved.

“Oh, my god, this is heavenly! Oh god, hello feet! Glad to have you back. Ouch, damn, that hurts, though!” He exclaimed suddenly, retracting one of his feet, and Changbin’s eyes widened.

Quickly, he turned off the water and crouched down in front of Felix.

“Let me see your foot.” He demanded, and Felix complied, even if with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Changbin took Felix’ wet foot in his hands gingerly, lifting it slightly. 

“Damn, no wonder that hurts. You have a blister the size of Russia down here.”

Felix whined. “Oh no! What do I do now?”

“There are blister patches in the store. You should put one of those on that.” Changbin suggested as he lowered Felix’s foot gently. 

He should have expected what was coming when Felix’s lower lip jutted out, and steeled his resolve beforehand.

“It’s almost six; I won’t make it in time before Minho-hyung closes… Binnie-hyung…!” 

Changbin didn’t even fight it. “Wait here and don’t put any weight on it. I’m going.”

He had about two minutes to get to the store, if he sprinted, he could still make it. And sprint he did; he really gave it his all, and yet, he was still too late.

“Wait!” He still called out as he watched Minho push the door shut and lock it from inside. Helplessly, he stopped in front of the door. “Please, just a minute!” He begged through the glass as Minho pointed at the “Closed” sign. “It’s for Felix!”

Minho halted, hesitating for a moment, before he unlocked the door and held it open just long enough for Changbin to slip in and locked it again.

“For Felix? What does he need?”

“Blister-patches. He has a blister taking up almost the whole ball of his foot.” Changbin informed, ducking past Minho and to where he knew the blister patches to be.

“Oh…” 

Minho waited for Changbin to find the patches, but shook his head when Changbin came up to him to pay. 

“I already shut down the register, I’ll put it in tomorrow morning. But, here,” He pushed a box into Changbin’s hand that read it contained an ice-pack. “Take this to him, too. Tell him to put it in the freezer now so he can use it at night to cool his foot when he goes to bed.”

“Thanks!” Changbin smiled genuinely at Minho, who just nodded and led the way to the back door, letting Changbin out through the storage room. 

Changbin was back by Felix’s cabin in no time, where Felix was still sitting on the steps, letting water run over his feet.

“You’ll have to dry your foot if you want to put a patch on.” Changbin remarked as he handed Felix his purchases. “And Minho says to put this in the freezer so it’s cold tonight when you go to bed. You’ll probably want it to cool your foot by then.” 

“Thank you!” Felix accepted the two boxes, but pouted up at Changbin again. “Can you help me? I don’t want to step on this without a patch…”

Changbin was nothing but weak for Felix’s pout at this point, and he couldn’t even hide it. Without complaint, he helped Felix up and inside, letting him sit on the bed before he went to put the ice-pack in the freezer and get a towel. Felix didn’t even have to say anything anymore for Changbin to crouch down in front of him again, gently drying his foot in his lap and applying the patch.

“There you go; as good as new.” Changbin looked up with a half-smile when he was done, putting Felix’s foot down again, and Felix beamed at him. 

“Thank you! You’re the best, Binnie-hyung!” he tilted his head cutely, shooting him finger hearts. Changbin played along, Clutching his chest as if he’d been hit by them and wounded. Felix’s giggle was a welcome reward for the silliness. 

“Changbin!” 

They both looked up, startled, at the call from Changbin’s uncle outside.

“I gotta go! Careful on your feet, don’t walk too much for the rest of today!” Changbin admonished, getting up and hurrying out of the cabin. He found his uncle outside, frowning at him.

“What have you been up to?” He asked, suspicious, but Changbin only shrugged.

“Helped out Felix with a blister he got on his hike with Jeongin and Seungmin earlier.” He replied, nonchalant, picking the discarded hose back up. “You said guests’ wishes come first. Felix is a guest.” He elaborated, and his uncle sighed quietly.

“Yeah, yeah… Hurry, finish up watering the hedges and roll this up. It’s no good to have the hose in the way in the dark, people can trip over it…”

Changbin nodded, proceeding to do as he’d been told.

***

“Binnie-hyung!” 

Changbin stopped short in the door to the front-office, not expecting the scene he was presented with: Felix sitting on Hyunjin’s lap behind the front desk, greeting him with a wide smile.

“Uh- Hi, Felix.” Changbin greeted back awkwardly, a little unsure about his interactions with Felix in front of Hyunjin, seeing how close the two must be for Felix to perch so casually in Hyunjin’s lap.

Hyunjin manhandled Felix into sitting on only one of his legs so he could look past him and at Changbin.

“And Hyunjin; hi.” Changbin quickly tacked on, earning a giggle from Felix and a nod from Hyunjin.

“What is it?” Hyunjin asked instead of a verbal greeting, and Changbin straightened up a little. Before he could say what he’d come for, Felix interrupted, though.

“Jinnie! Is that a way to talk to customers? Watch and learn!” He turned to Changbin with a bright smile. “Good morning, Sir! What can I do for you today? Tent, camper-van, cabin? Parking space?How many cars? Wifi is free, the password is over there on the sign on the wall!”

Behind/under Felix, Hyunjin snorted.

“That was terrible. Three out of ten at best. You don’t overwhelm a customer like that. Dial the smile down, too; they don’t deserve all… that.” He gestured at Felix’s face, and Felix pouted.

“Poo on you, I did great! And Binnie-hyung deserves all the smiles!” He turned back to Changbin and tilted his head cutely, doing a flower pose with a slight pout. “Binnie-hyung, I did well, didn’t I?” He fluttered his lashes at Changbin, and despite it being exaggerated on purpose, Changbin couldn’t say he wasn’t affected.

“Very well.” Changbin was quick to reassure Felix. “Fourteen out of ten. I’d get all those spots even if I didn’t need them and tip extra!” 

“Hah!” Felix shouted triumphantly, at the same as Hyunjin groaned, giving Changbin an exasperated look.

“Not you, too... How has he already wrapped you around his precious little fingers, too? You need to stop spoiling him so much!” He scolded Changbin, but Changbin raised a defiant eyebrow at him. 

“That’s rich, coming from the one breaking protocol and letting him come behind the front desk, cuddling him in his lap despite it being what, thirty four Celcius?”

Hyunjin’s jaw dropped, but he made no move to dislodge Felix from his lap, who giggled again.

“To be fair, with the aircon it’s only twenty two in here and that’s almost  _ cold _ .” Felix defended, but Changbin still tilted his head with a teasing smirk at Hyunjin.

“I don’t see you defending any of the other points, Hyunjin…” He taunted, and Hyunjin finally snapped his mouth shut.

“Well, I-... I have nothing to say for myself except that Felix is very comfortable to hold in one’s lap?” It sounded like a question more than a statement and a faint blush dusted his cheeks. Felix cooed happily and squeezed Hyunjin’s cheeks between his admittedly really quite small and cute hands. Changbin felt a pang in his chest; what wouldn’t he give to be in Hyunjin’s place right now! Wait- what?!

He shook himself out of his thoughts, remembering why he’d come here in the first place.

“Uh- yeah, anyway. Uncle sent me here to tell you he needs you to go down to town for something. He’s waiting by the pool house.” He finally relayed the message, and Hyunjin nodded, nudging Felix to get up so he could, too.

“Can I come with you?” Felix asked Hyunjin eagerly, and Changbin felt his secret wish for Felix to keep him company like he had Hyunjin pop like a soap bubble. At the same time Hyunjin shrugged and answered Felix’s question with a “Sure.”, and the chances Hyunjin would clue Felix in on the rep he had with their group of friends increased substantially, which would be it for Changbin and Felix’s blossoming friendship.

“Ok, let’s hurry, then! I need to be back before Binnie-hyung takes his lunch break! We’re having lunch with Channie-hyung and Jisung down by the beach!” Felix practically dragged Hyunjin out from behind the desk, waving cheerily at Changbin as they passed him. Changbin waved back weakly; it remained to be seen if they’d really go through with that once they came back…

***

“Binnie-hyung!” Felix’s cheerful greeting preceded him bursting into the front office to relieve him of his duties just in time for his lunch break. “Let’s go! Auntie already packed our lunches with Jisung and Channie-hyung’s!”

Hyunjin entered at a much more sedate pace than Felix, making his way behind the desk as Changbin got up.

“Have fun, you guys.” He wished as he got settled in his chair. Before Changbin and Felix could leave, he spoke up again, though. “You should make sure to put on sunscreen if you’re staying longer down at the beach, Changbin-hyung; the sun combined with its reflection on the water is brutal at this time of the day if you’re not used to it. And you haven’t had the chance to spend longer than a few minutes at a time down there, have you?”

Changbin was taken by surprise by the observation and well-meant advice coming from Hyunjin.

“I, uh- No, I haven’t. T-Thank you, I’ll make sure to put some on.” He thanked him, overwhelmed, and lurched when Felix took his hand and started pulling him with him.

“Ok, cool, thanks, bye Jinnie!” Felix bid his goodbyes impatiently, dragging Changbin out of the door. “Let’s go! I’ll help you with the sunscreen; let’s just hurry so we can make the most out of your lunch break!”

In a hurry, they grabbed the cooler and made their way down to the beach, where Jisung and Chan awaited them eagerly.

“There you are! Changbin, are you eating with us?” Chan greeted with a sunny smile once they were close enough. Changbin nodded in confirmation, and Chan beamed at them, satisfied.

“Cool. Did you bring sunscreen? You can use mine if you haven’t.” 

“Jinnie warned him, we got the sunscreen- wait, where are your swimming trunks?” Felix stared at Changbin, bewildered, all of a sudden.

“Swimming-trunks?” Changbin blinked owlishly. “I… I don’t have any.”

Now it was the other three’s turn to stare at him owlishly.

“You mean to tell me… You came down here to one of the most famous beaches in the whole country and didn’t bring any swimming-gear? For real?!” Jisung sounded almost offended, and Changbin shrunk in on himself a little.

“I didn’t know the campsite was by the sea, at all… And I didn’t think I’d need swimming-trunks because I’d be working, not on holidays…”

Chan shook his head disapprovingly. “This won’t do; you work too much. I’ll talk to Uncle, and I can lend you a pair tomorrow, until you get the chance to buy your own in town. That being said, you should come down with us next Saturday when we go out for drinks.”

Changbin shifted uncomfortably. “I- that’s not necessary, but thank you. And I’m not big on drinking…” He declined shyly.

“That’s ok; they have great non-alcoholic cocktails down at our usual spot, too; and neither Woojin hyung nor Seungmin drink, either.” Jisung reassured, finally digging into the cooler and starting his lunch. Felix was quick to follow suit, taking his own and handing Changbin his lunch, too.

Quietly, Changbin started to eat, too. Conversation slowed down while they focused on their food, carried mostly by Chan, who wasn’t eating yet as he was still on duty and only ate when enough time had passed after Jisung’s lunch so the younger could take over again. As soon as Changbin was finished with his food, though, he unwittingly became the center of the conversation as Chan and Jisung expressed their curiosity and started asking him about himself. It didn’t help that Felix kept mentioning details that sparked the other two’s curiosity, prompting them to ask even more questions. 

In the end, Changbin stayed beyond his allotted lunch-time, scrambling up to try and get back to work as soon as possible and hopefully before his uncle could miss him. 

“Easy, Bin. Don’t worry, Uncle won’t rip your head off for being late. And if he tries, I’ll have a few choice words for him about overworking his employees!” Chan reassured him, patting his shoulder lightly. Despite the light touch, Changbin hissed sharply, and everyone’s eyes widened in surprise. Changbin hunched in on himself.

“Oh, shi- Sorry, I didn’t mean to-” he was quick to apologize, but was interrupted by Felix.

“Oh no! The sunscreen! We forgot!” Felix whispered, and all eyes shifted to Changbin’s shoulders.

“Oh, no!” Chan hit his forehead with his palm. “We’re idiots! Forget work; when you get back up, make sure you go to Minho and get some lotion first and foremost. You weren’t in the sun too long, the ones he has should still work well enough for the burn you got.”

“I’m coming with you! You’ll need help putting it on your back, anyways!” Felix offered promptly, quickly gathering his things and taking Changbin by the hand, pulling him with him again. “See you later, hyung, Sungie!”

Changbin had no choice but to stumble after Felix, back up to the campsite and straight to the store. 

Minho was sitting behind the register, reading, when they burst through the door. He didn’t bother getting up, only inclining his head in question when they approached him.

“What’s with the haste, gentlemen?” He asked, amused when they came to a halt in front of him, panting. 

“Binnie-hyung got a sunburn just now; we need some lotion.”

One of Minho’s brows rose in question and he finally got up.

“Sunburn? How bad?” He inquired, and Felix turned to Changbin.

“Show him, Binnie-hyung!” He demanded, causing Changbin’s breath to hitch in his throat.

“H-here? Just like- like that?” 

“Come on, you’ll hardly be the first shirtless guy Minho sees today; take off your shirt and show him.” Felix encouraged, rather forcefully, but Changbin had an inkling it was only out of worry.

Minho stepped out from behind the register, nodding at the door to the storage room. “If you don’t want to take your shirt off here, we can go to the storage for you to show me how bad it is. Felix can take over watching the register for a minute.” He offered. 

Changbin quickly realized he didn’t have much of a choice, but he still went with Minho’s suggestion. As soon as his shirt was off, he heard Minho inhale sharply behind him.

“Damn, good old sun really did a number on you, huh… You’re really not used to tanning, are you!” It wasn’t even a question. “I think it’s a little past what any of the lotions I have here can help with, but hold up.” He indicated Changbin to wait, going to where he stored his satchel every morning and dug around in it until he surfaced with a half rolled-up tube.

“Here, this will help. I always manage to burn my arms at least once every year.” He explained. “There’s still enough left to get you through today; I can pick up another tube from the pharmacy for tomorrow later. Turn around, I’ll help you put it on.”

Changbin was speechless but did as Minho said, and Minho lathered the ointment generously on his skin, even helping Changbin put his shirt back on when it caught on his now sticky skin.

“T-thank you, really.” Changbin muttered, finally, and Minho shrugged, leading the way back to the front of the store. “No problem. Keep the tube, and don’t forget to put on another layer tonight; ideally  _ after _ you shower.”

Changbin nodded, just as they joined Felix at the register again.

“Felix should help you.” Minho added in that moment, and Felix looked up curiously when he heard his name. “With putting another layer of ointment on his burn tonight. It’s a bit worse than what regular lotions can help with. I told him to do it after showering.” Minho proceeded to explain, and Felix’s eyes lit up as he promised to do so.

And he intended to keep his promise, that much was clear to Changbin when he stepped out of the shower later that night and heard Felix’s voice coming from Jeongin’s room. Whether or not he intended to keep the promise even after talking to Jeongin and Seungmin remained to be seen, though. Either way, Changbin had to go to the room to get the ointment, since he’d forgotten it there. 

Gritting his teeth, he started for the room, preparing for awkwardness. Him and Jeongin had only ever really spent time together in the room with one of them sleeping for the past month, with Changbin going to sleep way before Jeongin returned and getting up and leaving while his cousin was still fast asleep, too. Now not only Jeongin was in his room, but his boyfriend as well, and of course, Felix. He had no idea where Felix would be standing when he came in, but he didn’t have high hopes that he’d side with him over his long-time friends if it came to an argument.

With a short knock, Changbin opened the door and dove into the room, hoping for the attention to not fall on him too much, if possible, at least. Those hopes shattered as soon as Felix spotted him.

“Binnie-hyung!” He exclaimed, excited, and went to bounce over to him. Of course, that wasn’t the best idea in the cramped room; his foot caught on the edge of Changbin’s shitty air-mattress bed and he stumbled. He would have fallen, too, if Changbin hadn’t caught him before he could. It would have been nice if Changbin could say he’d caught Felix in the cliché drama way, with Felix coming to land in his arms bridal style like the typical princess would, but unfortunately gravity and chance had other plans. Felix’s face smushed unceremoniously against Changbin’s chest, one of his flailing arms knocking him in the face while his other hand found purchase on his arm and squeezed painfully against the sunburn.

And still, Jeongin and Seungmin let out matching wolf-whistles between howls of laughter, mocking ‘Awww’s and coos while Changbin tried to maneuver Felix into a position that was less painful for him, and Felix tried to regain his footing around the corners of the air-mattress.

“Awww, aren’t they so cute!” Seungmin laughed, sounding just a tad maniac, while Jeongin wheezed.

“So romantic; my  _ heart _ ! Why didn’t you ever nearly knock me out romantically, hyung? You are a shit boyfriend!”

“Oh I can take care of that right away, come here you little brat-!”

Jeongin bolted from next to Seungmin with a nearly ultrasonic yell. 

“I said romantic! That’s aggressive! Changbin-hyung, save me!”

Changbin froze, only just having managed to help Felix back onto his feet when Jeongin jumped past him, grabbing his shoulders to use him as a shield against Seungmin. As soon as his cousin’s fingers dug into his skin, he winced, though, trying to duck and dive out from under his hold. 

Immediately, Jeongin let go and the playful mood in the room shifted as both Jeongin and Seungmin frowned at Changbin following that reaction.

“Oh shit, your sunburn! Are you ok?” Felix was the first to recover, hands hovering hesitantly over Changbin’s arms as he nudged Jeongin out of the way gently.

“I- Uh, not sure…” Changbin stuttered semi-coherently, and Felix finally grabbed his wrist to maneuver him into sitting on Jeongin’s desk chair. 

“Let me help you with the ointment! Where do you have it?”

Changbin gestured towards his bed, and Felix found the ointment quickly.

“Sunburn? You didn’t put on sunscreen?” Jeongin asked, incredulous.

“He was going to! But we all got distracted and then just forgot.” Felix defended, hopping back to Changbin’s side. “This tube is almost empty; did Minho-hyung say where he got it from?”

“He said he’s going to pick me up another one for tomorrow…” Changbin informed quietly while Seungmin came closer, too, asking “We?” after Felix’s earlier statement.

“Binnie-hyung and I went down to the beach to eat lunch with Sungie and Channie-hyung, and Channie-hyung even offered his sunscreen but for some reason we got off track and when we noticed it was too late already. Hyung, can you take off your shirt?”

“And you got  _ this  _ burned? How long were you down there?” Jeongin asked, incredulous, while Changbin took off his shirt.

“Not even an hour; it was his lunch break, after all.” Felix shrugged.

“Damn, you burn easily, huh…” Seungmin whistled. “You should get the really good sunscreen before you go to the beach next time. The factor 65 or higher. I don’t think Minho-hyung has it in the store, but mom sells it in the pharmacy. I’ll tell her to send some up with Minho-hyung when he picks up the ointment…” He pulled his phone out to text his mother as he spoke, and Changbin could only blink owlishly at him. 

He really didn’t understand what was going on anymore. After his initial argument with Jeongin when he’d arrived, hadn’t his cousin badmouthed him to all his friends so they gave him the cold shoulder for the past month? But now these last few days since Felix arrived, they were all so friendly and helpful all of a sudden… How, and why?

“Ok, all done!” Felix declared then, after lathering Changbin’s back, shoulders and upper arms with the ointment. “I hope you’re good with sleeping face-down and will get enough sleep tonight, hyung…” He sounded worried.

“Oh, right! We should probably head somewhere else and let you rest!” Jeongin exclaimed, looking genuinely contrite. “Sorry ‘bout that, we originally just came up here to grab Minnie-hyung’s headphones, but then we were surprised by Lix-hyung and got distracted. We’ll get going; sleep well!” 

Jeongin and Seungmin quickly shuffled out of the room, with Felix lingering behind for a moment longer. 

“Good night, hyung. If you need help with the ointment tomorrow, come find me, ok?” He asked with a warm smile, and Changbin nodded quietly as his heart fluttered at the soft tone of Felix’s voice.

“Thank you. I will. Good night, Lixie.”

Felix beamed at him, eyes crinkling and cheeks bunching, and Changbin’s heart fluttered harder. It was still beating slightly out of tact a good while after Felix had left and he’d since gone to bed. Felix was really putting his sanity at risk here!

***

“I heard you got a pretty bad sunburn yesterday.” Changbin’s uncle remarked shortly after Changbin arrived to receive the deliveries for the store.

“It’s not that bad…” Changbin tried to dismiss the topic, but his uncle clicked his tongue in disapproval. 

“If Jeonginnie says it’s bad, I’m trusting his judgement; from what I gathered you don’t have much experience with sunburns, do you?”

Changbin couldn’t say he did, so he agreed.

“Take it easy today, then. Stay in the shade, drink a lot of water, and leave the more strenuous tasks to someone else. Sunburns are no joke, you’ll dehydrate easily. I’ll have Jeongin run lunch for Chan and Jisung down to the beach; take the time to rest instead. And don’t even try to protest!” He interrupted before Changbin could say anything. “Chan nearly had my head yesterday for overworking you! Why didn’t you say anything sooner?! I didn’t even realize you were working fourteen hour days with hardly any breaks. We’ll need to work out a proper work schedule for you later; maybe when you’re filling in for Hyunjin at the front desk. Sound good?”

Changbin nodded numbly, and they went about their work. His uncle made it a point to not let Changbin lift any of the heavier crates, and before long he was shooed to the sales-room to stack shelves rather than carry crates. That was where Minho found him when he arrived, too.

“Morning, Changbin!” He greeted good-naturedly, startling Changbin.

“Oh! Good morning, hyung…” 

“How’s your sunburn doing? Did you put more ointment on last night?” He inquired, and Changbin nodded.

“Good.” Minho nodded, apparently satisfied. “I brought a new tube, and some sunscreen, too. I’d suggest you stay out of the sun for the time being, though.”

Changbin hummed. “Yeah. Uncle told me the same thing earlier…”

An amused smile flitted over Minho’s face before he joined Changbin in stacking shelves.

“Uncle got a verbal whipping from Chan-hyung about you last night; it was pretty hilarious. Chan-hyung can be quite scary when he wants to be!” Minho laughed. “Looks like you’re going to be having a lot more free time from now on, though. We should use that to hang out sometime! Have you decided if you’re coming on Saturday yet? Channie-hyung said they’d invited you to come along already.” He tacked on when Changbin gave him a startled look as he mentioned the outing.

Changbin’s expression didn’t change to one of understanding just yet, because actually, it wasn’t the fact Minho knew that Chan had invited him, but that he was invested in knowing what decision he’d made that surprised Changbin. 

“I… don’t know yet.” He answered, just to not leave Minho hanging and waiting for an answer for too long. 

Minho, oblivious to Changbin’s internal struggle as he was busy stacking shelves with his back to Changbin, hummed in understanding.

“If you’re not big on drinking, that’s fine. You wouldn’t be the only one, Woojin-hyung and Seungmin don’t drink as a rule, and I won’t be drinking this weekend, either.”

Changbin went to rub at his neck awkwardly, and promptly hissed in pain when he forgot the sunburn he had there. Minho whipped around at the sound, assessing the situation with one glance.

“Of course, you haven’t put on the ointment this morning yet.” He remarked, more to himself than Changbin. “Come, let’s get that done before Uncle drags you somewhere else and we forget about it.” He reached out and took Changbin’s hand in his own, tugging him to the storage room. There, he got Changbin to get out of his shirt and made quick work of applying the ointment. Of course, it was a nice gesture to help and he was efficient and gentle enough, and yet-... The thought that he much preferred Felix’s help crossed Changbin’s mind. There was just something about Felix, something about the way he was so gentle and careful when it came to Changbin that had him longing for his help over Minho’s. 

“Think about it, ok? About Saturday.” Minho backtracked to their previous conversation when he was done, patting Changbin’s arm where it wasn’t burned with a welcoming smile. “Of course, we’re not going to pressure you, but I think we’d all love for you to join us.”

See, and that was just something Changbin couldn’t understand. And he didn’t understand it the rest of the week, either, whenever someone mentioned it, until every single one of the employees at the campsite had personally asked him if he’d join them and assured him he was very much welcome to. And yet, it wasn’t any of his coworkers or even his cousin who managed to convince him to go, in the end.

Of course, it was Felix.

“You know…” Felix started off while spreading lotion on Changbin’s back during his lunch break on Saturday. “Aside from the whole traditional payday drinking outing thing that’s going on among the employees… The boys genuinely want you there tonight. Ever since I mentioned you majored in music production Chan-hyung has been  _ dying _ to get a hold of you long enough to chat about it. But every single one of the others has mentioned something or other they’d love to talk to you about, too. It’s comical, almost, how you’ve been here for a month and all of you have barely gotten to know each other. Of course, with your work-schedule until recently you didn’t have a lot of time, but… You can make up for that now.”

Changbin hummed at the right times, signalling he was listening, but didn’t say much even after Felix finished, letting silence encompass them. Felix didn’t let it drag on for long, though, coming to sit next to Changbin as soon as he helped him drape the shirt back over his lotioned back.

“Maybe you’re not terribly fond of the idea of going out alone with a bunch of virtual strangers, but… Would you still consider me a stranger, too?”

Changbin couldn’t, not exactly. Not when he somehow found himself spending almost all of his free time during the day with Felix (and a lot of his working time, too), and had gotten to know the younger quite well; and vice-versa. 

“If it helps convince you, you could come as my plus one for the night; or rather, I’d come as your plus one, because technically, I’m not the employee, but you. We could call it a date and everything!” Felix grinned sunnily, while Changbin sputtered through a sudden coughing fit, cheeks blazing red. Felix giggled at Changbin’s misery, patting his back with feather-light touches eventually.

“There, there, it’s all good now. So, is that a yes?”

Changbin gave Felix an incredulous look.

“Are you seriously asking me out right now? Just like that?”

“Mn!” Felix hummed in confirmation, eye-crinkling-cheek-bunching smile in place, and Changbin was weak - oh, so weak! - to it.

“I- Uh- What-” 

Changbin’s incoherent stutters prompted Felix to open his eyes again, smile slowly turning into a pout. “...no?” He asked eventually, and Changbin panicked.

“N-no! I mean, yes- I mean, no, it’s not a no! It’s- I just-”

Felix tilted his head curiously, then became serious.

“It’s a yes but you don’t want to go out with the whole group?” He tried, and Changbin exhaled shakily. 

“That’s… That’s also not quite it. I’m just- Are you sure it’ll be ok for me to come? You’ve all known each other since forever, and I- I haven’t exactly been the most sociable guy around here…”

Felix looked almost offended at Changbin’s question once he finished.

“Of course it’s ok! We wouldn’t be inviting you and trying to convince you to come with us if it wasn’t!”

Well…

“And it’s not a prank of some sort? Where you take out the new kid and make him do something really inappropriate without him knowing, or abandon him in a bad part of town as a joke or something?”

Felix gave Changbin an unamused look.

“We’re no longer  _ twelve,  _ hyung!” He scoffed, but as Changbin flinched at the tone, he understood those were genuine concerns Changbin had, and both his expression and voice softened. “We wouldn’t do something like that to you, Binnie-hyung. The guys’ interest in you is genuine, and me wanting to take you on a date, be it tonight in the group or just the two of us another time, is genuine, too.”

Changbin chewed on his lip as he thought it over, exhaling shakily eventually before answering.

“I do want to go on a date with you. And I’m coming with you tonight. But I wouldn’t mind a date of just the two of us sometime, either.”

With an excited squeal, Felix threw his arms around Changbin, who grit his teeth as he hugged Felix back. His sunburn wasn’t that bad anymore that Felix’s hug really hurt, it didn’t, it was ok. (It wasn’t, his burn was bad, still, but a hug from Felix was  _ worth it. _ )

***

In all the time since Changbin had come down to his uncle’s campsite, he hadn’t managed to go out and visit the town nearby even once. He didn’t know what he had expected, but it certainly wasn’t… this. 

It was a small town, alright. And still, there were plenty of restaurants, bars and even some clubs, two whole hotels, a mall and a whole shopping mile with countless stores selling just about everything, and still, it didn’t lose it’s small-town-vibe. Somehow, Changbin had a feeling that must mainly have something to do with the residents. 

During the whole trip through town, their group hardly made it past a stall or store without the majority of them being recognized and greeted, sometimes by name, sometimes with just a nod. By the time they reached the pub they’d been aiming for, Changbin wondered if there was a single person in this entire town who didn’t know at least Chan and Jeongin by name, and how any of them ever got anything done here if they were forced to stop for a chat every five meters.

“You add the time needed for chats as a variable into the time you calculate that you’ll need to get somewhere.” Woojin explained when Changbin voiced his thoughts. “It depends on when you come down here, too. If it’s during high time or a low time, kind of like the tides. If there are many tourists around, you need less time, but if it’s a time where most tourists are at the beach, or still in their hotels, you better plan extra time, because you’ll definitely be stopped. Also, for those of us who are gone from here for most of the year, we’ll have to factor every calculated time by two for the first two weeks upon arrival, since we’ll have to catch up with everyone first.”

“Also, you have to plan your routes well. There are routes that will take significantly longer than others even if the distance alone is shorter.” Hyunjin butted in. “If you run into Granny Choi from the candy store, add 15 minutes, at least. If Old Uncle Do is in town and gets a hold of you, add half an hour.”

“And if you are Hyunjin, add an extra hour no matter what, because  _ everyone _ will be flirting with you, or at least spend forever cooing over ‘what a handsome young man you’ve become’!” Jisung added with his best old lady impersonation, prompting Hyunjin to lunge at him and then chase after him when Jisung dodged with a loud cackle.

Changbin laughed with the rest of them, but the statement got him curious.

“If Hyunjin takes so much longer than everyone else, why does Uncle always send him on errands down here and not someone else?”

“Because Hyunjin can get everyone to make him a special price with a mere wink. Uncle is shamelessly exploiting how weak everyone is for Hyunjin in this town.” Minho explained with glee. “And so do we…!” He added much quieter, so Hyunjin wouldn’t hear it. Those still hanging around close and not on a wild goose-chase - or Jisung-chase - agreed with quiet hums and conspiratory grins.

Changbin soon got what they meant when they passed an ice cream stall and Jeongin mentioned craving ice cream. Swiftly, Chan and Seungmin got hold of Hyunjin and pushed him towards the stall. The owner caught sight of him, and her face lit up with a smile. In no time, Hyunjin was involved in a conversation with the woman, all while ordering ice cream for the whole group; and in the end, paid for only five of the cones at the woman’s insistence.

“I swear you guys only hang out with me to use me to charm out discounts for you…!” Hyunjin grumbled as they ambled further down the street, happily eating their frozen treats. Of course, protests rose immediately, and yet, when they arrived at the bar of their choice, Hyunjin was sent ahead to charm the personnel into letting them push two tables together for the whole group in the backyard.

“You see, Jinnie, we don’t just use you to get discounts.” Jisung grinned as he passed an arm around Hyunjin’s shoulders once they were seated. “We also use you to charm people into doing what we want them to for us.” He added, and promptly got punched in the arm pretty hard as Hyunjin shook off his embrace. Judging by the laughter from both of them, neither was really offended by the other’s actions or words, though.

Going mostly unnoticed in the middle of the group’s banter, Changbin seated himself towards the end of the table, still feeling pretty inadequate. Felix was right there, though, finding a seat next to him and not letting him blend into the background as he made sure to include him whenever he could. 

While it was mostly an effort solely on Felix’s part at first, soon the rest of the group took it up as well, and before long Changbin was naturally participating in the interactions, even without the help of liquid courage. In fact, he significantly relaxed when it proved true that he would not be bullied into consuming alcohol, which had been a fear of his. Instead, when it came to ordering their drinks, no one bat an eyelash when he ordered a fruity non alcoholic beverage off the menu - along with Minho, Seungmin and Woojin, just like he’d been told before.

Next to him, Felix did enjoy a few drinks, and Changbin soon learned that Felix was both a cuddly and a sleepy drunk. Without a care in the world, Felix eventually cuddled against Changbin’s side, and even went as far as to grab Changbin’s arm to pass around himself and hold on to. Changbin was surprised at first, no doubt, but not opposed, and so he let Felix snuggle up as he pleased while continuing his conversation with Chan across the table. After Felix’s introductory remark about how both of them shared an interest in music production (understatement, on Changbin’s part, but he’d take it), they quickly found they had a lot of other common interests and a lot to talk about over their drinks. 

Aside from some slightly louder laughter, the outing remained tame, and it wasn’t even that late yet when the first of the group announced their intent to go home, leading to the entire group paying their tab and leaving.

Aside from Changbin, Felix and Jeongin, everyone had their home down in town; however, Seungmin chose to accompany the aforementioned three back up to the campsite, allegedly to make sure his tipsy boyfriend got home safe, since Changbin would already have his hands full with Felix. Actually, neither Felix nor Jeongin were tipsy enough to need any sort of assistance on their way home, but no one called Seungmin out on his obvious excuse.

The road back to the campsite wasn’t lit up at night, but the clear sky full of stars illuminated the night enough for the quartet to find their way back without a problem. 

Shortly after leaving the last of the streetlights behind, Changbin and Felix decided to let themselves fall back and give the couple ahead some privacy as they walked. They weren’t in any hurry, anyway, instead taking their time to watch the stars decorating the magnificent night sky.

“This is one of my favourite things about the summers here…” Felix remarked quietly at some point. “Watching the stars at night. I don’t know of any other place where you can see that many stars.”

A fond smile tugged on Changbin’s lips as he watched Felix tip his head back to watch the stars overhead - and completely disregard where he was walking. Changbin saw the pot-hole just in time, though, holding Felix securely just as he was about to step into it and potentially trip.

“Careful! You’ll fall if you don’t look at the road!” He admonished, but Felix only giggled, leaning further into his hold.

“Oooh, you’re warm! Warm me up, Binnie-hyung?” He completely ignored Changbin’s warning, and if Changbin was honest, he forgot about it in that very same instant, too. He might not be able to see Felix’s pout, but he could hear it in his voice, and it was just as effective. As per Felix’s request, he wrapped his arm further around Felix, pulling him into his side, and Felix hummed in satisfaction.

Walking was harder like this, but again, they weren’t in any hurry, and so there was no problem with them walking slower.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Felix eventually asked, peering over at Changbin, and Changbin blushed. Thankfully, that wasn’t discernible in the dark.

“I did. Thanks to you.” He admitted.

“To me? But I didn’t do anything…” Felix trailed off, pensive.

“You convinced me to come with you. And you got everyone to talk to me.”

Felix shook his head in dismissal.

“They would have talked to you eventually, regardless. I’m sure of it. They are just-... Sometimes, the small-town-mind they grew up with takes over with them for a bit and they need a little nudge in the right direction. But, I’m glad you’re getting along with everyone now, and had fun tonight.”

Changbin was glad, too. He didn’t know how he should thank Felix, but he had a suspicion that Felix wouldn’t let him, anyway.

They walked in silence for a while, until they turned the last bend in the road and saw Seungmin and Jeongin walking further ahead again. Suddenly seeing the couple triggered a thought in Changbin’s mind that had him inhale sharply before he could stop himself.

“What? What’s wrong?” Felix immediately asked, suddenly alert, and Changbin felt bad for startling the younger.

“Nothing, nothing.” He reassured him quickly. “Just-... Is Seungmin spending the night? Is that something he does? I mean, I know Jeongin spends the night at his place fairly often, but him here-...”

Felix chuckled, understanding what Changbin was getting at.

“You can sleep over in my cabin if you happen to get sexiled by the two.”

A choked noise wrung itself out of Changbin’s throat, and once again he was grateful for the darkness to hide his burning face.

“That- That’s not- I wasn’t-”

“You can sleep over in my cabin if you don’t get sexiled, too, by the way.” Felix nonchalantly interrupted Changbin’s stuttered denial, and Changbin fell silent, mind bereft of any thoughts.

“Actually, we should do that sometime, regardless of Seungmin staying over and you getting sexiled or not. It would be fun!”

Yeah. Yeah, it would, Changbin thought. Fun, but not necessarily healthy for his sanity; and heart, for that matter.

The couple ahead was slowing down before entering the campsite, and Felix shuffled closer to Changbin again, too, snuggling into his side as they walked. 

“It would be nice, a sleepover. And I mean just the two of us, without the others. We would just stay up talking all night, probably, like little kids. And we could watch the stars, until we fall asleep. We could even sleep outside on the deck… But we’d have to share a sleeping bag and cuddle up close if we did that, so we don’t get cold. But it would be fun.”

Changbin’s breath caught as he imagined Felix’s suggestions, his heart beating erratically. Just where was Felix getting all these ideas - and that boldness! - from? And how did he manage to just  _ say  _ them, out loud?!

“Aww, they’re saying goodbye. Looks like you won’t be sexiled after all…” Felix pouted, and forcing his eyes to focus, Changbin could make out Jeongin and Seungmin standing in front of the house, without intending to go in just yet. 

They caught up eventually, and Seungmin and Jeongin stepped apart. 

“You’re not staying?” Felix asked Seungmin as soon as they were close enough for a conversation without raising their voices.

Seungmin shook his head.

“I promised mom to help her in the garden tomorrow. She’s picking me up any minute now.”

Felix nodded slowly. “Oh. But good, wouldn’t want you to walk back on your own this late. Anyway, I’m going! Bye, you guys.” He waved, then stepped closer to Changbin again and hugged him tightly. Maybe a little too tightly, a little too long… Not that Changbin really minded, of course, as he hugged him back. “Good night, Binnie-hyung. See you tomorrow. And think about my suggestion, ok?”

Changbin nearly choked, but he did stammer out an affirmation that he would. Happy with that, Felix left, just as Seugmin’s mom pulled up at the gate and Seungmin left, too.

For the first time, Changbin and Jeongin entered the house and eventually Jeongin’s room together, alone.

“So, you and Felix?” Jeongin asked as he pushed the door of his room shut behind them.

Changbin felt as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t, and it must have shown on his face. 

“Your face, hyung!” Jeongin laughed at his expression. “Chill, it’s cool. You’re cute together. Anyway, want to use the bathroom first or should I?”

Changbin took the chance to flee; he was not ready to answer questions he hadn’t even answered for himself.

***

Going out with the group of employees (plus Felix) marked a definite turning point in the way Changbin’s summer was going. He no longer worked stoically through the days, but genuinely enjoyed his job. He had fun stacking shelves with Minho in the mornings and tending to the shrubs, trees and flowerbeds with Woojin. He combined his lunch-break with bringing Jisung and Chan their lunch, and whenever they didn’t spend his break roasting in the sun or chilling in the shade while demolishing watermelons, he got private surfing lessons from the pair of lifeguards. Many an afternoon found him in the air-conditioned reception of the campsite, playing silly computer-games with Hyunjin until his uncle would come in and break them up via sending Hyunjin out on errands in town. He no longer sat alone at dinner, either, instead joining the loudest table in the restaurant, and in the evenings he stayed up later more and more often to help Jeongin here and there with his assignments for his summer-courses; and sometimes purely to remind him to focus and not give in to Seungmin’s distracting presence.

And, of course, a lot of time was spent with Felix, too. In fact, if you saw Felix somewhere, it was almost guaranteed that Changbin wouldn’t be far; and vice-versa. Most of the time, they were together, though. And eventually, after a few gentle but very obvious nudges from Seungmin and Jeongin about how they’d really like to have Jeongin’s room to themselves sometime, Changbin gathered his essentials to spend the night at Felix’s one day. 

Felix sat on Jeongin’s bed as he waited impatiently, bothering Jeongin to make the time pass faster. Seungmin, instead of helping his pleading boyfriend, only spurred Felix on to keep bothering the youngest, while Jeongin threatened to divorce him. The only one taking pity on the boy was Changbin, in the end, who hurried to gather his things and drag Felix out of the room eventually.

Laughing, Felix followed Changbin, but as soon as they were in the hallway his attitude changed and he became the one dragging Changbin with him instead. All the way to his cabin, Felix was chattering animatedly, listing the things they could be doing during their sleepover: from making popcorn and watching movies, over baking brownies for their friends, to building a bed outside on the deck to stargaze. Before they even reached the cabin, Changbin was sure he’d have to sleep over quite a few more times to put into practice all of the things Felix dreamed of. 

“Let’s keep it simple for today, ok?” Changbin laughed as he put his small overnight bag down, once they entered Felix’s cabin. “I’d love to bake with you someday, but I’m exhausted today, and I would probably fall asleep two minutes into a movie, too. But… a bit of stargazing sounds good.”

Felix finally calmed down a little, and together they went about setting up a bed for Changbin for the night and building a stargazing nest on the deck at the back of the cabin. After changing into comfortable clothes for the night, washing up and arming themselves with mosquito repellent and water, they settled down in the nest outside. The night was clear and dark, the lights of the campsite not interfering back here and making the stars shine that much brighter.

As warm as the days were, though, the nights were quite chilly, and Changbin was quite grateful for Felix cuddling close under the blankets they’d thought to bring out with them.

“I love just watching the stars out here…” Felix sighed contently, resting his head against Changbin’s shoulder. “At home it’s never dark enough to see that many stars… And they are different stars, too.”

“You have different constellations on the southern hemisphere, don’t you…” Changbin remembered waguely, and Felix hummed in confirmation.

“Do you know any of the constellations here, though?” Changbin wondered, and Felix confirmed yet again.

“I do. Channie-hyung taught me when we were little. Do you?”

Changbin shook his head. “No. I grew up in the city and never really got out. I didn’t really think about the stars, like, ever, since I never really saw them...”

Felix hummed in understanding. 

“Do you want me to show you some?”

“Please?”

Felix wriggled closer, until he was practically pressed up to Changbin in all his length, raising one arm between them.

“Ok, you see those four bright stars that kind of form a rectangle? A bit wonky, but anyway. And then that tail coming out on that corner…?” He traced the shape in the air above them, and Changbin hummed that he did see it. 

“That’s Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper. And if you follow those two bright stars in the back, over here…” He pointed it out again. “You find that bright star there. That’s the North Star, and it’s part of Ursa Minor, another rectangle here, but smaller. They always sit in the north and can help you find your way at night if you don’t have a compass.”

Changbin let Felix show him constellation after constellation and add little facts about each of them. Sometimes it took him longer to see which stars Felix meant, and to get a better view, he eventually ended up lying with his head half on Felix’s chest, half his shoulder; if he was cuddled up a little closer than strictly necessary to see the stars, he’d say it was to keep the both of them warm in the chilly night, too. 

Whatever the reasons for their cuddling, Changbin was comfortable, warm, and happy. And also very, very tired from the long day, so it was no surprise he eventually fell asleep right there, to the sound of Felix’s comforting, deep but quiet voice as he talked about the stars, and half draped over the boy.

Hours must have passed when he eventually woke up again, to a gentle shaking of his shoulder.

“Hm?” He inquired drowsily, lifting his head, and the shaking stopped.

“Hey… We should go inside. It’s getting damp and cold out here…” Felix answered him.

Changbin grumbled, dropping his head back on his pillow - Felix’s chest - but he had to concede Felix had a point. It was cold, and everything did feel sort of damp. With a groan, he sat up, rubbing his eyes. He was far too drowsy to be up at this time, but thankfully Felix helped him up, loading his arms with pillows and blankets to help carry inside.

“Just drop them here, I’ll sort it in the morning.” Felix allowed as he closed the door behind them, and Changbin didn’t have enough energy to process an alternative so he did just as told. 

With swaying steps he went to the bedroom once his arms were free, plopping down on the bed unceremoniously. He could hear Felix chuckling behind him, and he was vaguely aware he was saying something, too, but he couldn’t make out what it was for the world. He didn’t particularly care, either. The bed was comfortable and already warmer than their cocoon outside had been. And yet-...

Changbin stretched his arms out with a grumble, reaching for Felix. 

“What?” Felix asked, and Changbin huffed, not bothering to open his eyes.

“C’mere.” He mumbled, barely intelligible, but Felix got the gist of it. 

As soon as Changbin’s fingers made contact with fabric, he clung on to it and pulled Felix into bed with him. Felix chuckled, not resisting and getting comfortable as well. Before Felix had even settled down properly, though, Changbin was already asleep again.

The next time he woke up, it was to the sound of an alarm, but it wasn’t his own. The fact there was an alarm at all startled him, though, reminding him he had to get up to work like a bucket of ice water dumped over him, and he threw the blankets off him, scrambling out of bed. He wasn’t alone, though, and he promptly tripped over Felix, nearly falling face-first on the floor. 

“Binnie hyung?” Felix asked, worried, helping Changbin back onto the bed.

“I have to get ready for work!” Changbin rushed, stressed already, but Felix hugged him tighter anyway.

“Yeah, you do. But relax, you’re not late yet. I didn’t know how long you need to get ready but I set the alarm for you. It’s four thirty.”

Changbin relaxed at once, sagging in Felix’s hold.

“Oh…” He breathed a sigh of relief. “I still have time.”

Felix hummed, snuggling against him for a moment longer before letting go and lying back down.

“I’m going to sicc Chan hyung on your uncle again. This is no time to make you get up at…” He yawned, practically melting into his pillows again.

Changbin rubbed at his eyes, silently agreeing with Felix. He got up, though, clambering over Felix’s legs more carefully now. As much as he wanted to stay in bed and sleep some more, and cuddle Felix some more, too, he couldn’t, and had to actually get ready for work. He went after his morning routine as usual, but just as he was about to leave, Felix called for him from the bedroom.

“Hmm, Lix?” Changbin poked his head inside the room, just to see Felix reaching out for him from under the blankets.

“Hug.” He demanded, and Changbin’s heart stuttered. He went to comply and give Felix what he wanted.

For someone who looked as soft and small and sleepy as Felix did in that moment, he still was quite the tenacious hugger and he easily pulled Changbin down onto the bed with him.

“Lixie, I have to go to work. Uncle is waiting for me…” Changbin reminded Felix after a minute of cuddling.

“I’m going to fight Uncle…” Felix grumbled, but reluctantly let go of Changbin. “Let’s have breakfast together later?”

Changbin smiled at Felix, agreeing easily. He was getting up again when Felix caught his wrist. 

“Just one more hug?” 

Felix’s pout was such that Changbin had to be stone-hearted not to melt and give in, and he hugged Felix one more time. 

“Go back to sleep, Lixie. See you at breakfast.” Changbin chuckled, ruffling Felix’s hair a little. Felix sighed but finally let go. 

Changbin’s heart felt uncharacteristically heavy as he got up and made to leave. He had to look back one more time before leaving the room, and his chest felt tight and light at the same time as he watched Felix snuggle back into the pillows. A small smile crept onto his lips, and both the smile and the image of sleepy Felix in his mind stayed with him as he went about stocking shelves and storing groceries. At least until Minho arrived.

“I heard you slept with Felix last night…” The cashier leaned against the end of the row of shelves with a smirk, and Changbin stumbled, nearly toppling into a display of canned beans.

“I slept  _ over _ at Felix’s last night! I didn’t sleep  _ with  _ him! The fuck-” He broke off as his uncle stepped into the front of the shop.

“What do I hear? You slept with Felix?”

Changbin wanted to scream, and also combust on the spot. Just a few degrees more, and at least his face should erupt in flames, anyway.

“No! We just stargazed, and slept! Nothing like- We just slept, nothing else!” He rushed to defend himself again, but he could tell it was useless by the smirks on both Minho and his uncle’s faces.

“Oh for-... I hate you. Think whatever you want.” He grumbled, slamming a box of tuna cans down with more force than necessary.

Minho laughed, coming over to sling an arm around Changbin’s shoulders and hip-check him.

“Aww, come on, you love us. You’d be so bored without us!”

Changbin grit his teeth, focussing on the tuna cans and stacking them on the shelf neatly.

“Keep telling yourself that, if it makes you happy.” He grumbled, jerking his head out of Minho’s reach as the older went to ruffle his hair. Minho laughed, letting go of him, and left Changbin to grumble on his own.

The worst part was that Minho was right, though. He would still be bored, lonely and miserable without Minho and the others. Now that he’d gotten a taste of friendship with the group he didn’t want to miss it for the world, and that included Minho.

“Changbin! Your breakfast date is here!” Changbin’s uncle called from the front of the store eventually, interrupting Changbin’s packing in the back. 

Changbin rolled his eyes but bit his tongue, instead going to the front of the store. Felix was sitting on the belt next to the register, dangling his legs as he chatted with Changbin’s uncle; at least, until he spotted Changbin.

“Binnie hyung!” He exclaimed, hoping down and skipping over to Changbin to greet him with a hug, before taking his hand in his.

“I’m going to steal Binnie hyung for a bit, ok Uncle? I promise I’ll let him get back to work just on time!”

Uncle laughed, shooing them out of the store. 

“Go on, I’ll finish up in the back. Have fun, you two!” His wink at the end told Changbin that Felix’s actions did nothing to disprove his earlier claim. And yet he couldn’t begrudge Felix a single crook of his fingers; especially not when they fit so perfectly in the palm of his hand.

“Don’t have too much fun, though!” Minho called after them, too, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively, and Changbin frowned. Before he could say anything, though, Felix hugged Changbin close to his side, giving Minho an understanding smile.

“I understand you are jealous, Minnie hyung, but it’s really not a good look on you. Maybe if you finally made a move on Sungie you wouldn’t have to be, though…”

Minho’s smirk dropped instantly as he sputtered, and Felix used the distraction to push Changbin out of the door. 

Changbin regarded Felix with a newfound respect and appreciation as they started towards the campsite restaurant.

“Did you just say that to shut Minho up, or is there anything to it…?” He wondered after a minute or so, curiosity getting the better of him. Felix sighed as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.

“Minho hyung is an idiot. Jisung and him have been dancing around each other since middle school.” He explained. “Jisung has even confessed to him, multiple times! But hyung thinks he’s just joking and could never see him as anything but a friend; when it’s so very damn clear to  _ everyone _ in this whole town that they are both smitten with each other.”

Changbin hummed in contemplation. Now that he thought about it… Yeah. He could see it. They were really quite obvious, if you knew what to look for. He shook his head, dispelling those thoughts, though. He didn’t want to think about other people’s love lives when he- Well. When he was with someone who-... He shook his head again. It was too soon, wasn’t it?

***

Sleeping over once turned into sleeping over again, just the very next day. They watched a movie on Felix’s tablet, snuggled up in Felix’s bed. Changbin fell asleep eventually, but still made it unexpectedly far into the movie. He woke up again when Felix moved to put the tablet away once the movie ended, though, and Felix caught him up on what he’d missed as they cuddled. 

“And then they moved in together and probably adopted fifteen puppies and lived happily ever after. The end!” Felix concluded his recounting, and Changbin chuckled.

“Puppies, huh?”

Felix hummed.

“Yeah. I know the cliché is cats, but if it was me I’d want to adopt puppies. Maybe cats too, but mainly puppies. At least fifteen of them. That’s why in my head they adopt fifteen puppies after the movie is over, too.”

Changbin laughed softly, adjusting his position to better cuddle Felix, with his head on his chest.

“You’re cute, Lixie.” He mumbled softly, and Felix went still for a moment. Changbin vaguely wondered if he’d said something wrong, but then Felix started playing with his hair, noticeably relaxing under him.

“You’re cute, too, hyung.”

Changbin’s heart soared, and with that feeling of overwhelming happiness, he fell asleep.

As the days progressed, he got the chance to fall asleep this happy more often. And not just fall asleep like that, but feel that happiness, that feeling of a soaring heart that tried to escape the confines of his chest to expand so much further to better accommodate all of that happiness while awake, too.

Before long, he had to admit that maybe it wasn’t too soon, after all.

***

Felix leaned his head on Changbin’s shoulder, eyes lost somewhere on the horizon as they watched the setting sun. They were waiting for Chan and Jisung as they locked up all their supplies before clocking out. The beach was empty apart from them, the aforementioned lifeguards busy in the shed and all guests already on their way to dinner.

To accommodate Felix better, Changbin wrapped his arm around his back, hand settling at his waist, and Felix sighed contently.

“I love sunsets…” He murmured quietly, and Changbin agreed with a hum.

“They’re like… And end of a chapter, an end of a story. But even when the sun is gone already, but the sky is still red and orange and pink all over, and the first stars rise… It’s like… The promise of a sequel, you know?”

“I can see what you mean, yeah…” Changbin agreed, and Felix smiled contently.

“Sunsets are peak romantic. Some people might think there’s nothing more romantic than kissing in the rain, or in the snow, or something like that.” He mused, and Changbin shifted slightly to watch Felix’s expression as he talked. “But those are dramatic kisses, kisses of ‘finally, all the hardships are over and we can be happy’. Sunsets are for kisses of ‘the world is pretty great right now, but you make it even better’. And aren’t those kisses just superior, without all that drama around it? Just perfect, fluffy happiness…” He sighed wistfully, and Changbin chuckled quietly.

“Perfect fluffy happiness, huh…” He tightened his hold on Felix slightly, turning him a little so he was looking at him. Felix’s eyes sparkled in the waning light of the day, and Changbin thought the sunset paled considerably in beauty next to the sight of Felix’s face in the pink light. 

“Perfect fluffy happiness…” Felix repeated, sounding as if his thoughts were actually far, far away. His gaze didn’t quite meet Changbin’s either, resting somewhere further down on his face instead.

“Lix…” Changbin swallowed, his mouth feeling a little dry suddenly. Felix’s gaze wandered up, finally meeting Changbin’s. “Can I kiss you?” He asked quietly, and Felix’s lips fell open. Changbin barely had time to register that before Felix’s lips were on his own, soft and sweet, and sweeping any and all other thoughts Changbin might have had out of his mind. Closing his eyes, he focused solely on Felix and their kiss, lips moving slowly, lazily, as they tasted each other, explored each other as if they had all the time in the world.

“How long you wanna bet it’ll take them to realize we’re right here if we don’t say anything, hm, hyung?”

“Guess we’ll never find out now that you’ve said something, won’t we, Sung…”

Changbin and Felix pulled out of their kiss to the sound of Chan’s tired sigh. Bewildered, Changbin frowned at them.

“Have you guys just been standing there like creeps the whole time?!” He asked, slightly mortified, and both Chan and Jisung chuckled.

“You really can’t tell, huh? Looks like Lixie is that much of a good kisser, wow…!” Jisung taunted gleefully, while both Chan and Felix rolled his eyes at him.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Sungie…”

Jisung pulled a face, shuddering all over.

“Ew, no! That’s like kissing my twin, yuck!”

Felix pulled Changbin closer, leaning into him again with a smirk directed at Jisung.

“Nah, Sungie’s heart belongs to a certain Lee Minho, and Lee Minho only.”

Jisung glared at him, teasing expression falling. “Why don’t you just announce that to the world, hm? I think there’s some people in Iceland you haven’t managed to tell that yet…!”

Chan caught Jisung in a side-hug, too, ruffling his already dishevelled hair and keeping him from going anywhere while at the same time comforting him.

“It’s not like Lixie needs to tell anyone anymore at this point, Sungie. You’ve made sure everyone knows that yourself by now.”

Jisung deflated, leaning into Chan’s hug.

“Not  _ everyone _ , unfortunately. A certain stubborn, oblivious asshole-... Anyway. Let’s head up to dinner.” He grumbled, winding himself out of Chan’s hold and starting to stomp towards the walkway up the cliff and back to the campsite.

“If those two don’t get together soon, I swear, I don’t know what I’ll do to them…” Felix sighed, pulling Changbin along to follow after Jisung and Chan.

Jisung’s love-life provided a distraction from Changbin and Felix’s kiss, but only until they gathered together with the others over dinner.

“So, Felix here managed to fulfill his dream of a sunset kiss today!” Jisung announced once the last of them sat at the table. Loud whooping, wolf whistles and general mayhem followed the announcement, and Changbin wanted to sink into a crack between the tiles on the floor, as no one even questioned who it was with.

“Wait, everyone! Lixie, was this you guy’s first kiss?” Hyunjin crowed over everyone eventually, and the rest calmed down, eagerly awaiting Felix’s answer. 

Felix, knowing that his friends wouldn’t give in until he gave them an answer, nodded with a sigh. More whooping, especially from Chan and Jisung answered his nod, while groans came from the majority of the rest of them.

“Pay up, suckerssss!” Jisung danced in his seat, while Hyunjin flopped dramatically down on the table.

“I swear I thought you had more game, Lix. Really? It took you this long to even kiss? I thought you were already f- oof!” He broke off when a sharp elbow landed in his ribs, courtesy of Seungmin.

Changbin’s eyes widened as he watched four of their friends dig out their wallets to hand money over to Chan, Jisung and Woojin.

“Did you seriously  _ bet _ on how long it would take-...” He couldn’t even finish the thought, never mind voice it. 

“This is nothing, really. I’m sure they have bets running on at least six to seven other aspects of our relationship, and much spicier ones at that.” Felix chuckled, unbothered as he turned to his food. “At least that was what happened around the time Chan and Woojin got together.”

“Feliiiiiix!” Jisung shrieked, horrified, and jumped up from his seat next to Chan to dart around the table, putting it between himself and both Chan and Woojin. “Why would you just tell them that?!” 

“Bold of you to assume we didn’t know that already.” Woojin laughed quietly, pocketing the money he’d just made with this bet before turning to his food, too. “I hope you don’t think we don’t know exactly what you did to find out details to confirm who won your bets, either. Y’all ain’t subtle… Nor quiet.” He looked meaningfully at everyone around the table. Some of them did a much better job at pretending they had no idea what he was talking about, while others looked as if they wanted to join Changbin in the cracks between the tiles on the floor. 

Somehow, Changbin survived dinner, though, and eventually returned to Felix’s cabin with him, finally alone again. 

It was later than expected, too late to start a movie or something else that would take longer. They eventually settled for just getting ready for bed and cuddles.

“Hyung…?” Felix eventually asked after he climbed into bed after Changbin.

“Hmm?”

“We didn’t talk about it earlier, but…” Felix broke off, sounding unsure for the first time since Changbin got to know him. 

Changbin turned onto his side, finding Felix’s hand to intertwine their fingers and give it a reassuring squeeze.

“What is it, Lixie?” He prompted gently.

Felix took a deep breath.

“What is it that you see, in… in us? In what we have?”

Changbin had no idea how to answer that question, if he was being honest. Mostly because he wasn’t able to process those thoughts for himself.

“I mean…” Felix continued. “I don’t doubt you like me. But… Do you see what we have as just a summer fling, or… Or do you think we could… become more?”

Changbin squeezed Felix’s hand again, swallowing thickly.

“Honestly?” He whispered into the space between them. “I don’t know. I really do like you, but… I haven’t thought about that yet. Until earlier, at the beach, I wasn’t even sure you- you liked me back, so…”

Felix hummed in understanding. “I guess that’s fair. Let’s just wait and see, then, right?”

Changbin nodded, relieved. “Yeah…”

Felix chuckled quietly. “Sorry, I didn’t want to send you into a whole crisis about it. There’s no pressure to find answers. And don’t let the other idiots pressure you into figuring anything out, either, ok?”

Changbin chuckled quietly.

“Yeah, no, I won’t. I was just kind of shocked, earlier. I wasn’t expecting them to-.. Well. To be like that. But now I know.”

Felix laughed as well.

“Well, I’m just like them, to be honest. It’s fun. If you want, we can let you in on the bets about Minho and Jisung, and you’ll see.”

Changbin choked slightly, laughing as well as he caught his breath. “Oh god, what have I gotten into…!”

“A whole mess, that’s what. But it’ll be the best thing that could ever happen in your life, I promise.” Felix declared, rather seriously. “Now… As much as I love gossiping about my friends’ relationships, I vote we leave that for tomorrow. Instead… How about we take advantage of the fact there is a very low probability of any of them coming to interrupt us now and pick up where we left off earlier at the beach?”

Changbin found no flaws in that proposition, answering Felix by getting right to it.

***

Had the days dragged on endlessly at the beginning of the summer, three months feeling like a never ending eternity, towards the end of it the days flew by in the blink of an eye. Shadows grew longer, days grew shorter, and the nights colder. The first leaves paled to yellow and the activity on the campsite slowed down. 

To Changbin, not even the end of his contract marked the end of summer as clearly as the day of Felix’s departure, though. 

Changbin wasn’t the only one feeling down that day, either. It was as if a blanket of melancholy had settled over the whole campsite, the birds chirping less lively, the wind blowing listless through the foliage of the trees, and the sun and sky dulled by a fine layer of persistent fog high above ground. And of course, Felix’s friends were just as upset as he was.

“Ten months, at most, right? That’s not even a whole year.” Jisung sniffled as he clung to Felix while they waited for the taxi picking Felix up, trying to cheer himself up.

“I’ll try to come earlier next summer, and stay longer. I’m due for a promotion, anyway, so, if I make more money…”

“Mom and Dad would let you stay for free for as long as you want, hyung, and you know that!” Jeongin sounded almost angry, but his anger evaporated when Felix hugged him tightly.

“I know, but I’m not going to accept that. I’m not going to take advantage of our friendship like that.”

“That’s such bullshit, and you know it…” The youngest whispered, hiding his face against Felix’s shoulder, hands bunching to fists in the back of his shirt as he composed himself.

“Nine months and a bit, then, if you come earlier. About as long as an over-carried pregnancy.” Jisung concluded, eliciting chuckles and incredulous snorts from the group.

Chan latched on to Felix next, as soon as Jeongin released him. “Try to deliver on term, ok, Lix?” He carried on Jisung’s weird analogy. “We’ll miss you terribly, sunshine.”

Felix sighed, leaning into Chan’s hug.

“I’ll miss you, too, hyung. Everything is only half as fun without you guys…” His voice trembled, and Chan scrunched his eyes shut, crushing Felix against him.

“Hyung, don’t you fucking  _ dare _ cry! I swear, if you cry-” Seungmin broke off, choked up, and as soon as Chan let go of him, Felix went to hug him.

“It’s ok to show feelings, Minnie.” Felix chuckled, but his voice shook as well. 

“Shut up.” Seungmin mumbled wetly. They simply held each other for quite a while before letting go. By then, Hyunjin was already a teary mess, quietly muffling sobs against Woojin’s shoulder. Felix went to hug both at the same time. 

“Time’s going to fly by and we’ll be together again before you know it, Jinnie…” Felix tried to console Hyunjin, to no avail. “And it’s not like we won’t hear from each other all this time. I’ll call you every day, if you want. And send you snacks. And other stuff. Sound good?”

Hyunjin didn’t answer, but his tears slowed down a little; enough for Felix to feel like he could safely entrust him to Woojin again, after he hugged him goodbye for a long time, too.

“Make sure you send the rest of us snacks, too, not just Jinnie.” Minho commented as Felix went to hug him as well. “And none of that vegemite shit.”

“I resent that!” Chan protested immediately, but Minho glared at him over Felix’s shoulder.

“Resent that all you want. Fact is, it’s not worth the shipping fees, especially not when you can send more tim-tams if you leave that salty nastiness out.”

Felix laughed, squeezing Minho tight one more time before letting go.

“I’ll figure out a compromise, don’t fight.”

He turned to Changbin then, and his smile turned sad as he stepped up to him. Changbin swallowed thickly.

“Hey…”

“Hey…” Changbin replied, letting Felix take his hands into his own. They’d stuck together pretty much all day already, Changbin helping Felix pack the last of his things in the morning and carrying his suitcases down to the gate.

“I-...” Felix started, but broke off, blinking harshly. “Shit…”

Changbin pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around him in a hug and hooking his chin over his shoulder. 

“It’s ok.” He murmured next to Felix’s ear. “It’s ok. We’ll be ok. This is not the end.” 

Felix drew a shaky breath, holding on to Changbin tightly. Out of the corner of his eyes, Changbin noticed the rest of the group step back a little, giving them space.

“How can you be so sure?” Felix’s voice broke.

“I just am.” Changbin reassured him, and learned in that moment that yes, he was sure. He didn’t know why, just that he was. 

Felix pulled back a little, his tear-filled gaze meeting Changbin’s.

“But, you…”

“I love you, Felix.” 

Felix’s tears finally spilled over and he crushed Changbin in an embrace with a sob.

“You say that  _ now?!” _

Changbin chuckled wrily, taking Felix’s weak hit to his back in stride.

“I’m sorry. It took me until now to realize just how much-... How much I really, truly love you. Not just as a summer fling.”

Felix laughed through his tears.

“You are a jerk!” He cried, pulling out of the hug just so he could crash his lips against Changbin’s in a desperate kiss. 

“I love you too, absolutely not just as a summer fling. And I already miss you, and I don’t know how I’m going to make it over nine months without being with you, and-”

He was interrupted by the taxi pulling up to the curb.

“Fuck.” He clung to Changbin again, burying his face in Changbin’s shoulder. “Tell me it’s not real and the taxi is not here yet.”

Changbin didn’t say anything, just holding Felix as he watched Chan and Minho load Felix’s luggage into the trunk of the car.

Reluctantly, Felix eventually let go, and Changbin cupped his face, wiping at the tear streaks. 

“It’s just as long as a slightly over-carried pregnancy…” He reminded Felix, and Felix laughed through his tears.

“I’m not ready for a pregnancy, I’m too young…” He pouted, and it looked all too real.

“Lix… I hate to interrupt you guys, but…” Chan called, and the couple leaned in for one last, lingering kiss. 

They were ever so reluctant to let go, but it didn’t change a thing; eventually, they had to part.

Changbin looked after the taxi as it left down the road, unblinking until it turned the last corner and disappeared from view. He felt weirdly numb inside, as if his entire being was just in denial about losing a part of him all of a sudden.

“Hey, hyung. You ok?” A voice sounded next to him eventually, and it was what made him snap. Without looking, he turned to cling to the person who’d just come up to him and buried his face against their shoulder as the floodgates opened. Vaguely, he registered it was Jisung’s shoulder he was soaking in silent tears.

“Oh- oh, boy… Hey… Hey, it’s-... It’s ok, hyung. It’s ok…” Jisung patted his shoulder somewhat awkwardly, but judging from the sniffles Changbin registered coming from him, it was more because he, too, needed the comfort he was trying to give. 

A second set of arms came around Changbin, and Jisung, too, and Changbin knew instinctively they belonged to Chan.

“Come on, guys. Let’s go back inside. He’ll be back before we all know it, and it’s not like he’s out of this world. You’ll still talk to him before next summer.”

It was little comfort when Changbin already missed Felix’s presence, his laughter, his hugs, as if a vital part of his body had gone missing. What did provide some comfort was that he was not alone in his misery, at least, even if the relationship the others had with Felix was not the same as his; not that that meant they missed him any less. 

***

The rain pelting the window of Changbin’s bedroom perfectly reflected Changbin’s mood. It was early in the morning, way too early for anyone to be awake, but Changbin’s sleep schedule was still wired to get up in time to meet the delivery drivers and stock the shelves in the store; only, there no longer was any store to stock shelves in at this time. Not for him, at least, not here in the city. And, well, yeah… That was one of Changbin’s problems.

He’d been back for two days now, and already his parents were pestering him about a job once more. He’d barely finished unpacking his suitcase and they were already on his case. 

He sighed, rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling of his room, faintly illuminated by the city lights coming in through his window. If he’d still been at the campsite, the light would have been so different at this time: a dark purple, not even really light yet, just a slight lifting of the darkness that allowed shapes and shadows to become discernible enough not to trip over them. The first birds would be waking up by now, sleepy chirps announcing the end of the night here and there. In just about fifteen minutes, all their friends would be joining in, though, starting the concert for the day, while Changbin signed the last of the delivery slip and retreated into the store room to put away whatever groceries and supplies had been delivered that morning. Since it was thursday, today’s delivery would consist of gas and supplies for the portable stoves and camper-vans, coal for barbecues, water jugs for the dispensers spread throughout the site, and of course, like every day, fresh produce and bread. 

None of that had to concern Changbin anymore, though; unfortunately. He was half a country away, in a dull and damp city where the only birds he ever came across were pigeons, no one used portable stoves and coal-barbecues, and the produce and bread had a longer shelf life and weren’t delivered daily; and you could definitely taste the difference. 

Had anyone told Changbin he would be missing the countryside, the camp-site and his daily heavy workload this much at the beginning of the summer, he would have laughed and told them to fuck off. And yet, now his heart ached for the times gone by. Or maybe that wasn’t right; it felt as if his heart wasn’t with him to begin with. Maybe it was still in that small town by the ocean, in the company of eight boys who’d made this the best summer of his life; or maybe, it was somewhere on the other side of the world, in the hands of a freckled sunshine whose enthusiastic greetings and laughter were the sounds that had fueled Changbin’s days this summer like no other.

Changbin winced at the sharp twinge in his chest as his thoughts wandered to Felix, reminding him that the physical organ was very much still with him. How could someone miss someone else this much and just live with it, day in and day out, without going crazy?

His room lit up faintly for a moment, before going dark again, and Changbin correctly deduced it had been the screen of his phone lighting up with a new message. There was really only one person who’d text him at this time of the day, and a small smile bloomed on Changbin’s face before he even picked up his phone. Of course, he was right, finding a string of new messages from Felix.

‘You’re paying rent, your share of the bills and your own food, aren’t you. So what’s your parents’ deal, can’t they give you a break even for one day???’

‘Give me your address, I’m coming over to give them a piece of my mind!’

‘Also, good mornig. I hope your day is going to go well, your parents leave you alone, and you get to pet some puppies. Also also, I love you!’

‘(And I’m serious, I need your address. Might be a while before I can come over to tell your parents off, but in the meantime I already have a box of snacks ready to send you)’

Changbin chuckled fondly as he read the messages, Felix never failing to put a smile on his face. With Felix’s well-wishes and encouragement, his day was already a good one before it even properly started.

Quickly, he shot a good morning message back, together with his address, and then got up to start his day. Maybe today he’d be lucky and find a place to work at.

***

Changbin wasn’t lucky, not that day and none of the following, either. He didn’t give up, though, leaving the house early to hand in his resume in person in some places, maybe find some more places on the way there, too. And above all, escape his parents’ incessant nagging. It was why he came home late, too, but at some point he had to come home too early and still catch his parents awake.

“You got mail.” His mother informed him after exchanging greetings with him, nodding at the hallway, where they had the sideboard all mail landed on at some point. 

Changbin perked up in interest; Felix had only sent the box of snacks two days ago, there was no way it was here already. So, maybe finally one of the many, many places he’d applied for a job at had written back?

Sure enough, there was a regular-sized envelope sitting on the sideboard, and it was addressed to him. He didn’t recognize the logo printed in the corner, but his heart sped up nonetheless: SKZ Records. At least it sounded like something music-related! With how many places he’d applied at over time, spanning an ever growing range of areas, there was no knowing where he’d get a response from. 

Slipping into his room, he tore the envelope open even before the door fell shut behind him. And then, he quickly needed to sit down, as his legs threatened to give out under him. His vision swam, too, and he had trouble making sense of the contents of the letter as he read it over and over. All that stuck was something about talent scouts, skipping auditions, contract drafting meeting, invitation-...

Changbin glanced at the calendar he had standing on his desk, and felt as if the air got punched out of him. The date for the meeting was the very next day!

He felt simultaneously elated and jittery, euphoric and nauseous with nervousness. This was the only place he got a response from (was it a response? He didn’t remember ever applying to this company, not sure if he had ever even heard the name. But if they knew his address and in what area of the industry he was applying for jobs, he must have, right? At this point, he couldn’t even be sure anymore what places he had and hadn’t applied to, if he was being honest...), and he really didn’t want to blow this chance.

The pressure of only having this one shot made everything so much worse for Changbin, though. He barely slept, and he felt so underprepared, overwhelmed and insecure, he doubted he would even know what to answer if someone asked him what music was in general, never mind something more specific or pertaining his area of supposed expertise.

Somehow, he made it to the company building on time the next day, though, and he was even fairly sure it was the right one as he stepped into the foyer and up to the front desk. 

“Hello. I am here for a meeting scheduled at 11? Seo Changbin.” He introduced himself to the guy behind the desk. The guy looked up shortly, checking something on his computer, and then his eyes widened.

“Oh!  _ The  _ Seo Changbin! Your meeting is with the bossman himself.” He reached under the desk and fished out a lanyard, handing it to Changbin. “Take the elevator, press for the sixth floor and hold the lanyard to the contact pad. Good luck!” He smiled winningly.

Changbin felt like turning on his heels and storming right back out of the building, though. His meeting was with the boss of the company himself? What?! How, and why?!

He cursed internally, forcing himself to turn to the elevators and at least try. He didn’t have many options at this point, so if he got a chance, he had to take it, even if he would rather be anywhere but here at this moment in time.

He followed the motions sluggishly, calling the elevator, waiting, stepping into it, choosing the floor with the lanyard on the contact pad… The previously red light behind the number turned green, and the elevator started moving. Way too quickly, it stopped again and the doors opened, and once again Changbin had to force himself to move. 

He stepped out into an open space, to the side of which sat a currently unoccupied desk; likely that of a secretary or assistant. A little further down that same side of the open space was a heavy-looking door, and Changbin had a sneaking suspicion that one was the door to the company boss’ office; the man he was supposed to meet. 

He swallowed thickly, looking around and at the small group of comfortable looking armchairs sat by the windows opposite the elevator, wondering if it would be ok to sit there and wait, at least until the assistant or secretary came back to announce him. Or… should he go knock at the door himself? Quickly, he dismissed that idea; that would not go down well, he was sure of it. Then, what should he do? Just stand here and wait? Or at least go stand by the desk? Yeah, maybe he should do that, so he at least didn’t keep standing here blocking the elevator doors. 

“Binnie!” A voice suddenly called, after Changbin had taken no more than a handful of steps, and Changbin whirled around. 

“C-chan hyung? What- What are you doing here?!” He stared at the lifeguard as if he was a ghost. He didn’t look much like a lifeguard now, either, dressed neatly in dress pants and a button-up, even if the top button was undone and the tie he no doubt had been wearing before, together with the coat, carelessly hung over his arm. 

Chan beamed at him, hugging him tightly as soon as he was close enough to do so, and Changbin soaked up the confidence the other seemed to radiate in spades. It definitely helped his nervousness seeing a friendly face here.

“I’m here to hopefully draft a contract with a future employee.” Chan answered his question with a wink as he let go. “But first, tell me: How have you been? Glad to be back in the city? Missing the camp? Missing the homies? Missing a specific homie? How’s things with Felix?”

Changbin spluttered, but managed to organize his thoughts enough to answer Chan. 

“A bit of everything, to be honest.” He conceded, starting to follow Chan as he overtook him and headed towards the desk, and then past it. “And everything’s fine with Felix… I miss him, but we’ve been talking lots. And he sent me a snack-box already, but it hasn’t arrived yet-... Wait, hyung, shouldn’t we knock-!” 

Straight up fear rushed through Changbin when Chan headed right for the office door, starting to push it open without further ado. Chan stopped, but just to turn to Changbin with a smirk.

“I don’t need to knock at the door of my own office, though…”

Changbin stopped short, the blood in his veins freezing solid. “Your- what?”

Chan finished pushing open the door and stepped aside, holding it open for Changbin to step inside.

“This is my office.”

Changbin looked at the shiny name plate next to the door, reading ‘Christopher Bang, CEO’.

“You-...” He started, incredulous. “This is your- But- Are you-...?!”

“Am I the CEO of SKZ Records? Yes, I am. Did I never mention that during the summer?”

Changbin shook his head slowly, still in shock. He let Chan lead him inside with his hands on his shoulders, maneuvering him around and into a chair pretty much like he’d done back at the beach when he taught him how to stand on a surfboard.

“My bad, sorry!” Chan didn’t really sound sorry; mischievous, maybe. “Can I get you a drink? Coffee, tea, coke, juice, water… Whiskey?” He asked when he moved to open a fridge that was let into the wooden panels lining the wall.

“Are… Are you serious?” Changbin rasped, and Chan tilted his head curiously.

“About what exactly?” Chan wondered, this time genuinely curious.

“About- Whiskey? Hiring me? You being- the fucking  _ boss _ of this whole company, which you never even told me-!”

At that moment, the door to the office opened, without a knock, and for a second Changbin thought he was done for, that the real boss was coming in now, and that about concluded all of his chances at this company. But, the figure that entered looked remarkably familiar to Changbin, too, and when he talked, Changbin knew why instantly.

“Hyung, Jun said he came in already and he sent him up here, but I can’t find him anywhere? Do you think he got off on the wrong floor? What if he got lost? What-” Jisung broke off his tirade of questions when he spotted Changbin sitting in one of the armchairs. “Changbin hyung!” He exclaimed happily, skipping over. “It’s been forever! And you found us, aaaah!” He screamed in Changbin’s ear as he hugged him tightly.

“I- I f-found you?” Changbin stuttered, slowly coming out of his shock-trance as he reciprocated Jisung’s hug. “Don’t you mean, you found me? What- What’s going on, really?”

“You found the way here.” Chan explained slowly, setting down a small tray with a cup of coffee, a bottle of water and a packet of pineapple juice in front of Changbin. “And we found you, at the camp, and here through Felix, who gave me your address so we could send you that letter.”

Changbin shook his head slowly.

“That’s-... That’s crazy. I-... I don’t know what to say.”

Changbin didn’t need to say much, in the end. Chan and Jisung explained it to him, how they - with some connections and a lot of dumb luck - ended up taking over and revamping the company after coming to the city, how Minho and Woojin worked with them, too, and Hyunjin would be starting part-time as well once the semester began. How they made it a tradition to return to their hometown in the summer to work the jobs at the campsite they had worked at as teens, growing up, to keep reminding themselves of their values and where they came from - and to just relax and live as if they didn’t have a care in the world for a while each year. And they told him how they’d decided during the summer, after hearing about Changbin’s passion, major and some of his work, that they wanted him on their team.

Drafting the contract was easy, in the end, all sides were easily satisfied, and Changbin got a tour of the company building. He would be starting his work with them as soon as possible (“Today?” “If you want. Your office will be over there, and I’ll have access to your personal studio added to your keycard straight away!”), but to be honest, he couldn’t quite wrap his head around it all yet even when he got home, late that afternoon. He was still overwhelmed, half in denial, half incredulous, when Felix eventually called.

“So, how was your day?” Felix sounded as if he knew way too much already, and remembering Chan had said Felix had been the one to give him Changbin’s address, Changbin suspected Felix to be an accomplice in the others’ plan. And he hadn’t thought to warn him! 

“Oh, you know. The usual. Nothing special.” Changbin replied nonchalantly, dragging the suspense out for Felix as a form of mild revenge.

“Really? Nothing exciting happened?”

“Nah. Just job-hunting all day.” 

“Oh…” Changbin could practically see Felix’s understanding nod just from the way he said that particular small sound. “I see. Caught anything today?”

“Hmm…” Changbin hummed, and as he tried to find the right words to tell Felix, no longer able to keep it to himself as well, the full implications finally hit him. He needed a moment.

“Binnie hyung?” Felix asked, tentative, but Changbin could only answer with a sniffle. “Hyung? Are you ok?” Felix’s voice became worried.

“Y-yeah…” Changbin whispered under his breath. “I’m ok. Just- It’s just hitting me…”

“I’m coming over and hitting it right back! Nothing has the right to hit my man! Gimme names and I’ll take asses!”

Changbin couldn’t help but laugh at Felix’s silly antics, feeling better immediately.

“It’s called ‘I got a fucking job’, and comes along with ‘And it’s a fucking dream come true’. Also, I really, really hate Chan hyung. And you little shit were in on it! You gave him my address! Was that what you asked it for?!”

Felix laughed, the sound relieved, mischievous and fond all together.

“No, actually. I really got the snacks and only asked for your address to send them, but literally half an hour later Channie hyung called to ask if I had your address. So I gave it to him. I only learned what it was for earlier when Jisung called and spoiled the news that they’d hired you.”

Changbin was speechless, but not for long.

“So you just randomly gave out my address without knowing what it was for?!”

Felix snorted.

“It’s not like I gave it to a stranger. And usually people need addresses either to visit someone or send them something. Neither were things I expected you to not welcome, coming from Channie hyung.”

Felix did have a point there. 

“I wouldn’t, coming from Chan hyung. Coming from a company I’d never heard of before, basically telling me I’m hired without ever applying, and then learning my first meeting with anyone from that same company would be with the boss, now  _ that _ made me nearly lose my shit a number of times today. As well as the whole process of learning who the fricking boss was!”

“You do have a point there. Chan hyung could have tried to be a little less cryptic there.” Felix conceded. “But it all turned out well in the end, didn’t it? Even if it took you until now to fully realize what happened.”

Changbin hummed, agreeing.

“Anyway, congratulations, hyung. Now you can finally tell your parents to fuck off, since you got a job. And in the field you love, too.”

Changbin hadn’t even thought of that before. 

“You’re right.” He realized with a smirk. “And I can tell them I’m moving out, at the same time, too. I’m planning on moving closer to the company, since right now I’m living pretty much on the opposite end of the city.”

“That’s great!” Felix’s excitement for Changbin was endearing, but also contagious, and Changbin found himself grinning along. “Today really is just full of good news for you! But… Can you handle one more?”

Changbin, blinked, confused. “Can I handle one more what?”

“One more good news!” Felix sounded as if he was about to explode if Changbin said no. So, he decided to be nice.

“Sure!”

Felix made an excited noise that sounded somewhere between a squeal and a choked gurgle of some sort that made Changbin worry for the integrity of his vocal chords.

“Alright!” Felix nearly stumbled over the simple word. “So, ever since last year already, I’ve been applying to take part in a student exchange program at my Uni.” He started, and Changbin held his breath in anticipation, already expecting where this was going. “And… It’s been approved! I’m going to spend my senior year in Korea! In the Uni close to Channie hyung’s company!”

Despite anticipating the news, Changbin was rendered speechless, unable to reply in any way to Felix.

“Hyung?” Felix asked after a while of waiting in vain for a response. “Are you still there? Did the call cut off?” His voice sounded more distant for a moment as he took the phone from his ear to check if the call was still connected. That finally snapped Changbin out of it.

“You- When?” Was all he could answer, and Felix turned serious on the other end of the call.

“Next month. The first. With the start of the new semester.” 

Changbin checked his calendar, eyes widening.

“In three weeks?!”

Felix hummed, and Changbin let himself fall back on his bed.

“Wow. That’s-... So soon. Are going to get help with housing? Are you going to be staying in the dorms? Do you need anything arranged here? I can help you with that…”

When Felix next spoke, the smile was evident in his voice again.

“It’s all arranged already. I’ll be in the dorms, but… It’s not like I’ll be forced to stay there the whole time… Sleepovers are allowed, after all.”

“Are you inviting yourself over to my non-existent place already?!” Changbin teased, and Felix huffed.

“Damn right I am! You better change the focus of your hunting from jobs to houses now that you’ve got the former! Chop-chop, clock’s ticking! My plane lands at four in the afternoon, sharp. I expect a home cooked meal, too!”

Changbin laughed, not because Felix had said something particularly funny, but just because… because he was happy. Genuinely, truly happy. Everything was falling into place, going right for once. He got a job where he’d get to do the thing he loved most in the world, and he’d be working with amazing people he’d come to care a lot about, too. And now even Felix was going to come back and they’d be reunited and live so close to each other…

“What are you laughing for?” Felix asked eventually, clearly wondering by now, and Changbin answered him with the truth, a wide grin splitting his face as he basked in the last rays of the setting sun shining in through his window.

“Nothing. It’s just… When I came home, I thought ‘the world is pretty great right now’… But you came and made it even better.”


End file.
